The 1,250-acre park straddling Beavercreek and Kettering that is now home to more than 4,000 jobs was founded in 1980, when it was affiliated with Sinclair Community College, the University of Dayton and Wright State University.
The business concentration now at MVRP will be mutually beneficial to its employers and the school, Schrimpf said.
“Because of the collaboration and the workforce component, I think there are opportunities to have tenants” in the park that can “be in the classroom and collaborate with them on the project brain-based learning that they do,” she said.
It would “give kids examples of real-world experiences in problems that they can solve,” Schrimpf added.
The STEM school plans to buy 9.58 acres just south of its current site. It wants to build a 60,000 square foot facility to initially house 400 students in kindergarten through fifth grade, Stephanie Adams Taylor, strategic partnerships director, said before the city approved the sale Tuesday night.
Adding a K-5 component, Dayton STEM school Superintendent Robin Fisher said, has long been her goal.
“For 10 years now, I’ve looked out my window and seen the property over there and just dreamed that that would be where the elementary school would be,” Fisher said.
“If you ask any of our staff there, they’ll tell you that I spoke about that our elementary school would be there one day,” she added.
The school’s design phase has started, with plans to break ground this fall, officials said. New student applications will be available in January 2025, according to the school.
In fall 2025, the school will start a phased-in admissions approach by adding grades K, 1, 2, and 4, officials said. By the following school year, STEM will expand to grades K-5.
The contract calls for Kettering to sell the land at 2951 College Drive for $55,000 an acre, bringing more than $525,000 for the city. STEM school officials declined to provide the total estimated investment for the project.
While the city hasn’t projected future income tax revenues, if the new school is home to 45 jobs, that “could be a respectable number,” Schrimpf said.
There are other considerations with the sale to the STEM school, she added.
“It provides an amenity … to Kettering residents who might want that option for their children. So, there’s a lot of things that we look at besides income tax revenue,” Schrimpf said.
“You know, we do think this will help businesses in the park. We think it just speaks to the collaboration that’s going on with between business and education,” she added.
The new school will help to “broaden the array of industries,” helping to market MVRP while adding to the K-12 education options in Kettering, according to Schrimpf.
“We think we’re one of ... the few communities in the region that can say that we have all kinds of options for your children,” she said. “And parents have an opportunity to find the right fit for their children and that’s important to a lot of people.”
About the Author
