Hinkletown Mennonite School will one day nearly double in size.

The school at 272 Wanner Road in Ephrata is holding a ground breaking at 6:30 tonight on a two-story, 20,000-square-foot addition.

The addition is phase one of a three-phase renovation and expansion project, said Ruth Leaman, director of development.

"The mood of everyone is ecstatic," she said. "We have functioned in these overcrowded facilities and deteriorated facilities for many years."

The new structure will have 12 classrooms and a 1,400-square-foot library. It will have a new entrance that faces Wanner Road.

The existing school building is 24,400-square-feet; it was a public school built in the 1950s; it became the private school in 1981.

Phase one is projected to cost $1.98 million, with the estimated total cost at $2.5 million. Weaver Construction is the general contractor.

Hinkletown Mennonite serves 150 students in kindergarten through eighth grade.

Space is so limited that art, music and language arts classes are held in modular structures, Leaman said.

If teachers want to break down classes for small-group instruction, they use the hallways.

"We need a lot more space and a lot more updated facilities," Jolene Reiff, who is helping the school with public relations, said.

The school's kitchen doubles as a classroom for food sciences, she said. The school does not have space for a conference room.

Since construction is beginning before the end of the school year, some classes will be held in the gym, Reiff said.

"We have to rip out the modulars to start construction," she said.

Leaman said the first floor of the two-story addition is slated to be finished in time for the new school year Sept. 8.

"We will need that space to move the students into," Reiff said.

Phase one also includes renovations on the K-2 classrooms. The existing rooms will be transformed into new offices and a new lobby, Leaman said.

The school is also adding, for the first time, a pre-kindergarten class, she said.

Hinkletown Mennonite will begin phase two once it is able to raise the money to support it.

Phase two calls for the completion of the second story of the addition.

Phase three calls for renovation of the middle-school wing and part of the gym, including a new stage and extra storage areas, Reiff said.

Leaman says the staff and parents are excited to see the ground breaking finally arrive.

"This project has been long in the works," she said. "We've been fundraising for over five years; so to finally be at this point is just about awe-inspiring for all of us."


Staff writer Robyn Meadows can be reached at rmeadows@LNPnews.com or 481-6025.