Lancaster Mennonite School (LMS) sold its former New Danville Campus property located at 393 Long Lane, Lancaster, to Catherine Hershey Schools for Early Learning on Oct. 21. LMS unified all students from the former Locust Grove and New Danville campuses on the Lincoln Highway campus for the 2022-23 school year, starting in August.

The mission of LMS is to provide a Christ-centered, high quality education for prekindergarten through 12th-grade students in a diverse community that nurtures them to become creative and innovative learners who are prepared for college, a career, and life and are empowered to change the world through Christ-like love, peacemaking, and service.

LMS' unification has allowed the school to update and expand its facilities and to hone in on key curriculum priorities of faith formation, fine arts, STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art and math), outdoor learning, and world languages. It has also allowed for collaborative learning opportunities across grade levels with the goal of fully utilizing and effectively stewarding the resources of its 95-acre Lincoln Highway campus.

The upgrades to the campus are intended to help the school serve the needs of students at every age and provide new spaces such as a new elementary MakerSpace and art room, new high school science labs, new media centers, and classroom upgrades, which are designed to support new curriculum initiatives to help students grow in their understanding of the world and discover their purpose in it.

The Catherine Hershey Schools for Early Learning are subsidiaries of Milton Hershey School. The Catherine Hershey Schools for Early Learning are for children from birth to age 5 and provide weekday care and education for early childhood learning. Their program covers all the costs for those who qualify.