“We're early childhood education. We teach the kids; we teach the families. We bring that all together into one big culminating factor to make sure that our entire family gets the best support as possible," said Jessica Bailey, Center Director of Catherine Hershey Schools' New Danville location, during a tour.

Construction and final operations are wrapping up for The Catherine Hershey Schools New Danville location as the organization prepares for its summer 2026 opening. Catherine Hershey Schools for Early Leaning, a subsidiary of Milton Hershey School, is expanding its services to Lancaster County. This is part of a $350 million initiative by Milton Hershey School to develop six early childhood education centers in Pennsylvania. Each location will support the whole child, with stimulating spaces encouraging hands-on play and exploration in a home-like environment.

The New Danville location is the first location to be renovated and not built said Bill McKelvie, facilities manager. The center was restored from an old elementary school and the design took inspiration from other locations in Harrisburg and Hershey.

Tuesday, One United Lancaster took a tour of the New Danville location to see its progress. Bailey led the tour citing the unique aspects of the center.

The classrooms are identical to one another and featured access to the outdoor playground. The kitchen has state-of-the-art equipment to provide kids with nutritional meals, all costs are covered by the school. There is an indoor gross motor space for the kids to enjoy playtime in case of bad weather. A STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) garden with resources for kids to explore such as planter boxes, light tables and wind tunnels. A health suite, with an on-site nurse. The Center partners with organization to provide vison, hearing and dental screenings.

A standout program of Catherine Hershey Schools is the Family Success Center. The Center provides families with a personalized advocate to help them develop goals and find areas of need for the child.  The program provides adults with various resources to guide them in education and childcare support.

"It's about working with the families. We have our family success advocates who are not in the classroom. They work with the families to help them reach whatever goals they have, whether it's getting a GED or going back to college,” said Bailey.

The 28,000 square foot center will create about 60 positions between leadership in classroom, family success advocates and additional operational roles.

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