BELCHERTOWN — Belchertown Day School is planning to put all of its students under one roof.
Thanks in part to a $1 million state grant, the school intends to build a new facility on the site of the former Belchertown State School.
About 25 percent of the day school’s students qualify as low-income, which was the qualifying threshold for the state grant, Heidi Gutekenst, school age director, said.
“We’re the only nonprofit child care in town,” Gutekenst said. “We don’t turn anyone away because of their ability to pay.”
The day school currently runs its toddler and preschool programs at its facility at 432 State St. Its before- and after-school program for children in kindergarten through sixth grade is held at local schools. The new facility will bring all three age groups together under one roof for the first time since the 1980s, Gutekenst said.
“Being able to build one place — that’s going to help us serve more families and our town,” Gutekenst said.
The new facility is slated to cost $2.4 million, Executive Director Pat Bruni said. The rest of the cost will be covered by loans and, possibly, other grants, she said. The $1 million grant was awarded by the state Department of Early Education and Care under the Early Education and Out of School Time grant program.
The new facility is to have separate outdoor areas for each of the three age groups, according to a release from state Sen. Eric Lesser, D-Longmeadow, who said he was “thrilled” about the grant.
“As we know, early education for toddlers and pre-schoolers is the best way to get our children on the path to success,” Lesser said in the release. “This grant will allow us to do that, and will greatly benefit the children and families of Belchertown.”
The new school also is to have two toddler classrooms instead of one, Gutekenst said, which could help alleviate the program’s waitlist, currently 35 names long.
There are no buildings on the new site, Gutekenst said.
“It’s a convenient location in the center of town,” Gutekenst said. “It has beautiful land and a lot of potential.”
The day school was forced to move in March after the town did not renew its lease at 51 State St. Its current location, at 432 State St., is smaller and doesn’t offer enough storage, classroom or office space, Gutekenst said. When the new facility opens, it will be the first time the day school owns the land and building where it operates, Bruni said.
Efforts to revitalize the Belchertown State School grounds have continued since the school — which housed mentally disabled people — closed in 1992 after 70 years in operation.
A groundbreaking is scheduled for a new senior assisted-living center Friday at 10 a.m. on the former state school campus, and the Belchertown Economic Development Industrial Corp. is working to bring other businesses and development there, Chairman William Terry said. He said the EDIC’s charge is to “create real estate development and jobs.”
Gutekenst said the day school plans to partner with the senior living center for some programs.
“We’re completely looking forward to doing multigenerational things,” Gutekenst said.