Bucks IU Expands Services with the Opening of theBucks IU at Pearl S. Buck

Posted onAuthorRobyn Gross

To meet the grow­ing demand for spe­cial­ized stu­dent ser­vices, on Friday, September 5, 2025, the Bucks County Intermediate Unit (Bucks IU) offi­cial­ly opened new pro­grams in the for­mer Pearl S. Buck Elementary School, on Top Road in Levittown, PA. This expan­sion reflects the Bucks IU’s ongo­ing com­mit­ment to deliv­er­ing high-quality, spe­cial­ized pro­gram­ming that meets the unique needs of stu­dents and fam­i­lies across the county.

Pearl S. Buck hosts18 Bucks IU spe­cial edu­ca­tion class­rooms serv­ing stu­dents in kinder­garten through grade eight. The class­es are designed to accom­mo­date stu­dents requir­ing emo­tion­al or autis­tic sup­ports. In addi­tion to address­ing each child’s unique needs as defined in their Individualized Education Program (IEP), this school also pro­vides the cur­ricu­lum aligned with the student’s edu­ca­tion­al requirements.

Students enter Bucks IU Special Education School-Age Programs through refer­rals from their home school dis­tricts based on the child’s IEP.

“The open­ing of the Bucks IU at Pearl S. Buck pro­vides a mean­ing­ful oppor­tu­ni­ty to meet the requests of our mem­ber dis­tricts. An edu­ca­tion­al envi­ron­ment such as this allows our high­ly skilled and trained staff to meet the com­plex and indi­vid­u­al­ized needs of stu­dents enrolled at the school,” stat­ed Dr. Lenny Greaney,
Bucks IU Assistant to the Executive Director.

The school includes three dis­tinct “pods” of class­rooms. Shared spaces include spe­cial­ized learn­ing areas and gen­er­al work­space for staff.

Ms. Jen Schmidt, Bucks IU Program Director–School-Age Programs, com­ment­ed, “The Bucks IU at Pearl S. Buck pro­vides a sup­port­ive envi­ron­ment with indi­vid­u­al­ized instruc­tion to meet the aca­d­e­m­ic, behav­ioral, sen­so­ry, and social-emotional needs of each stu­dent while sup­port­ing their dig­ni­ty and independence.”

The Bucks IU at Samuel Everitt, also locat­ed in Levittown, PA., now serves stu­dents in grade nine through age 22. Offering spe­cial­ized pro­grams for stu­dents by grade lev­els between both Bucks IU schools pro­vides a con­tin­u­um of edu­ca­tion that more close­ly mir­rors tra­di­tion­al school structures.

“Expanding our pro­gram­ming in Bucks County aligns with the mis­sion of the Bucks IU to sup­port the needs of all learn­ers, their fam­i­lies, school dis­tricts, and our com­mu­ni­ty,” said Dr. Mark Hoffman, Bucks IU Executive Director. “As the needs of our stake­hold­ers change, the Bucks IU will con­tin­ue to evolve and grow.”