Lower Merion Academy, view from front lane

Bala Cynwyd Junior High School Complex, is a historic

school A school is an educational institution designed to provide learning spaces and learning environments for the teaching of students under the direction of teachers. Most countries have systems of formal education, which is sometimes compuls ...

complex in

Bala Cynwyd Bala Cynwyd ( ) is a community in Lower Merion Township, Pennsylvania. It is located on the Philadelphia Main Line in Southeastern Pennsylvania, bordering the western edge of Philadelphia at U.S. Route 1 (City Avenue). It was originally two separa ...

Lower Merion Township Lower Merion Township is a township in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. It is part of the Philadelphia Main Line. The township's name originates with the county of Merioneth in north Wales. Merioneth is an English-language transcription of the W ...

Montgomery County, Pennsylvania Montgomery County is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It is the third-most populous county in Pennsylvania and the 73rd-most populous county in the United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of the county was 856,55 ...

. The complex includes the Bala Cynwyd Middle School, the Cynwyd Elementary School, as well as the former Lower Merion Academy. The elementary school and middle schools are part of the

Lower Merion School District Lower Merion School District, or LMSD, is a public school district located in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, United States. The school district includes residents of both Lower Merion Township and the Borough of Narberth. Established in 18 ...

. The Lower Merion Academy / Lower Merion Benevolent School building was built in 1812, and is a -story, five-bay,

stucco Stucco or render is a construction material made of aggregates, a binder, and water. Stucco is applied wet and hardens to a very dense solid. It is used as a decorative coating for walls and ceilings, exterior walls, and as a sculptural and a ...

ed stone building with

cupola In architecture, a cupola () is a relatively small, most often dome-like, tall structure on top of a building. Often used to provide a lookout or to admit light and air, it usually crowns a larger roof or dome. The word derives, via Italian, from ...

in the

Federal Federal or foederal (archaic) may refer to: Politics General *Federal monarchy, a federation of monarchies *Federation, or ''Federal state'' (federal system), a type of government characterized by both a central (federal) government and states or ...

style. It was renovated in 1938, in the

Colonial Revival The Colonial Revival architectural style seeks to revive elements of American colonial architecture. The beginnings of the Colonial Revival style are often attributed to the Centennial Exhibition of 1876, which reawakened Americans to the archi ...

style. The Cynwyd Elementary School building was built in 1914, with a rear addition built in 1920. It is a -story,

Classical Revival Neoclassical architecture is an architectural style produced by the Neoclassical movement that began in the mid-18th century in Italy and France. It became one of the most prominent architectural styles in the Western world. The prevailing style ...

style building that features white

terra cotta Terracotta, terra cotta, or terra-cotta (; ; ), in its material sense as an earthenware substrate, is a clay-based unglazed or glazed ceramic where the fired body is porous. In applied art, craft, construction, and architecture, terracotta ...

trim and a central entrance with

Ionic order The Ionic order is one of the three canonic orders of classical architecture, the other two being the Doric and the Corinthian. There are two lesser orders: the Tuscan (a plainer Doric), and the rich variant of Corinthian called the composite or ...

columns. The Bala Cynwyd Middle School building was built in 1938, and is a long, flat, two-story brick building in the modern style. A classroom wing was added in 1963. The buildings were renovated and some additions built in 1999. ''Note:'' This includes It was added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

in 2002.

Lower Merion Academy School bell, cast 1888, rededicated 1976

Next to the Lower Merion Academy building sits the school's old bell, cast in 1888 by

McShane Bell Foundry The McShane Bell Foundry, located in St. Louis, Missouri, is a maker of church bells founded in 1856. Over the past 150 years, the firm has produced over 300,000 bells. In 2019, the company moved its headquarters from Glen Burnie, near Baltimo ...

of Baltimore, Maryland, and rededicated in 1976 according to a plaque affixed to the side.

References

{{National Register of Historic Places in Pennsylvania School buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Pennsylvania Federal architecture in Pennsylvania Neoclassical architecture in Pennsylvania Colonial Revival architecture in Pennsylvania School buildings completed in 1812 1812 establishments in Pennsylvania Schools in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania National Register of Historic Places in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania