Lancaster Mennonite has sold its Locust Grove Mennonite School Campus for $6 million to restaurant supplier Clark Associates, which has its corporate headquarters next door.
Lancaster Countyâs largest private school is selling all but one of its campuses as it attempts to pay down debt and reposition itself in the face of a steep enrollment decline stretching from at least 2006.
By the 2022-23 school year, Lancaster Mennonite intends to sell its Locust Grove and New Danville locations and operate solely at its Lancaster campus on Lincoln Highway East.
The move, announced Friday, comes as the school combats a 58% dip in enrollment â from around 1,600 to 670 students â since 2006 that also led to the school closing its Hershey campus and splitting from its Kraybill campus.
âItâs not new news that LM, along with many other schools, have experienced enrollment declines due to families having fewer children, economic challenges, increased school choice, changes in churches and conferences, and geopolitical impacts causing a reduction in international enrollment,â Lancaster Mennonite Superintendent Pam Tieszen said in an email.