Parking, Safety Concerns Raised Over Plans For Preschool In Newtown

NEWTOWN TOWNSHIP, PA — A New Jersey-based school is proposing to turn a former drugstore in Newtown into an early childhood learning center, complete with an outdoor saltwater pool and play area.

Those plans, however, may face an uphill battle with several township supervisors already raising concern over the idea of locating a school in the parking lot of a busy shopping center.

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Erica Amon, the vice president of development for Apple Montessori Schools, outlined sketch plans for the project at the August meeting of the board of supervisors.

Apple is proposing to open a 142-student, seven-classroom school inside the former Rite Aid store at the Goodnoe Corner Shopping Center on North Sycamore Street. The store has been closed since August 2025.

Apple's plan includes the renovation of the nearly 10,000 square foot building into an infant to kindergarten early childhood learning center and the conversion of the east side parking area into an enclosed play area with cedar wood play structures and a salt water pool for exclusive use by the school strictly for swimming lessons.

The school had originally envisioned a 152-student school, but scaled that back after hearing planning commission concerns over the intensity of the use and parking impact.

The school also revised its plans to include angled parking spaces along the western side of the building, the development of a new traffic circulation plan to improve flow around the proposed school, and the removal of an existing drive-through used by the pharmacy.

The parking area shown at left would be turned into a fenced-in play area and saltwater pool. (Jeff Werner/Patch)

Chris Gardyasz, representing ShopOne, the owner of the shopping center, told the supervisors that after considering several potential tenants, ShopOne felt the Apple School would be a good fit at the shopping center, which is anchored by the Green Parrot and Firstrust Bank.

"We felt given the complexity of the parking lot, this is a nice fit," he said, calling it "a strong opportunity for the center."

Apple, which has been in business for 50 years, operates 22 early childhood centers in New Jersey and will open its first Pennsylvania location this September in Warrington at the Shops at Valley Square. The school's mission is to "enrich and inspire children to reach their fullest potential as kind, independent, confident, and curious individuals, for a lifetime of happiness and success."

"We believe the adaptive reuse of the vacant Rite Aid is perfect for us," Amon told the supervisors, explaining that Apple likes to locate its schools at shopping centers. "We are also a permitted conditional use under township ordinances."

The Apple school would open daily at 7 a.m. with a staggered drop-off from 7 until the school day begins at 9 a.m. The building closes at 6:30 p.m. with a staggered pickup between 3:30 and 6:30 p.m.

The school would have a secured entry area and every child on site would be professionally supervised at all times, said Amon.

Amon said the use would be complementary to the center, with school hours from 9 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. Monday to Friday, with the school closing down just as the restaurants at the center are starting to get busy. The school is also closed on the weekend, a typically high-demand time for restaurant use.

"We are a weekday-only, daytime-only operation at a shopping center that has several restaurants that are heavy demand weekend users," she said.

Citing parking study numbers, Amon said at 3:30 p.m. during its peak overlap, the school's demand would be 29 spaces. By 5 p.m., with the restaurants building in their usage, the school's demand would drop to 13 spaces, and by 6:30 p.m., as restaurants approach peak demand, the school would require no spaces.

"We are a daytime-only use operation in a shopping center with heavy evening and weekend demand users. We have no evening, no weekend, no nighttime hours. Our use complements the existing shopping center tenants," said Amon.

After hearing the plan, Supervisor Phil Calabro questioned the idea of locating a school in an already problematic parking lot.

"This parking lot is notoriously busy at all times. Whether you're there at 8 a.m., noon, or dinner time, this is a dangerous parking lot for adults," he said. "You can't say with 100 percent certainty that none of these kids will escape and go running into that parking lot. This particular parking lot is a dangerous place for 142 kids, plus parents, plus workers to be running rampant."

Amon responded, "We have 2,000 children in our program and safety is 100 percent a priority."

At one point, Supervisor Elen Snyder asked school leaders whether they had looked into the Newtown Business Commons where a new overlay district could better accommodate their needs.

"We changed zoning there so places like yours could go in without asking for variances and have a very easy time instead of picking this very difficult spot," she said.

School officials will next take their plans back to the township's planning commission for continued review. A conditional use hearing is tentatively scheduled for early September before the board of supervisors.