Gemma Services school plans new $52M campus for MLK Behavioral Health School

 By Ryan Mulligan – Reporter, Philadelphia Business Journal

Nonprofit Gemma Services is turning the former Plymouth Meeting headquarters of a medical device research firm into a new campus for its Martin Luther School.

The private K-12 school for students who need emotional and behavioral support will move from its current campus at 512 W. Township Line Road in Plymouth Meeting to the more than 20-acre property at 5200 Butler Pike come 2026.

The project will cost an estimated $52 million, said Gemma Services CEO Kristen Gay. It will see the organization convert the 80,000-square-foot former home base of nonprofit ECRI into over 30 classrooms while building an addition for elective learning spaces with a black box theater, a gymnasium and a library. Across the campus, the nonprofit is also looking to add outdoor learning space, multiple playgrounds and a track and sports field with stands if municipal funding is secured.

Gemma Services acquired the property for nearly $14 million in December from ECRI, Montgomery County property records show.

The organization is funding the project through a recently launched $3 million capital campaign, a loan, potential municipal funding and a significant grant from the Gemma Foundation, an independent entity that helps fund the nonprofit's operations. Over half of the $3 million goal was raised through a silent phase of the campaign, announced last week week.

Gemma Services was formed in 2019 by the merger of behavioral health nonprofits Silver Springs and the Village, both of which had roots dating back to the 1800s in Philadelphia.

Martin Luther School is a private K-12 school that gives students an individualized learning program. The current West Township Line Road property spans multiple buildings across 37 acres. Martin Luther School began incrementally adding high school grades in recent years and will graduate its first high school class this year. It has a student population of 230, pulling students from some 40 local school districts. Gay says the new campus will help the school expand to over 350 students in the coming years.

Full story: http://tiny.cc/x20j001

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