This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2015, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
When a brand-new Lincoln Elementary School opens in Salt Lake City in two years, students will be able to get dental and eye exams along with their lessons on reading, writing and arithmetic.
Those extra services, along with preschool and adult education, mental health services and a community food bank, are part of a planned 15,000-square-foot expansion to the school made possible by a $3 million donation by the Ray and Tye Noorda Foundation.
The donation was announced Thursday by representatives of the Noorda Foundation and the Salt Lake Education Foundation, which raises funds in support of Salt Lake City schools.
"We realized with such strong and willing community partners that all Lincoln needed was a space to bring them together," Noorda Foundation program officer Brittany Erikson said. "We wanted to be a part of it."
Richard Davis, chairman of the Salt Lake Education Foundation, said he was humbled by the Noorda Foundation's generosity.
The $3 million donation is the largest single contribution ever made to a Utah school district foundation, and Davis said it's rare to see a check with "that many digits."
"This will be a remarkable gift that will give for generations and generations," he said.
A groundbreaking for the new school and community learning center is planned for February, with construction expected to be completed in time for the 2017-2018 school year.
The new school will be built to the east of the current Lincoln Elementary, 1090 S. Roberta St. (250 East) in Salt Lake City.
Salt Lake School District Superintendent McKell Withers said the community center at Lincoln Elementary will be the third of its kind in the district, although similar services exist at other schools without a dedicated space.
Administrators are eager to work with community partners to break poverty cycles and help low-income and at-risk students succeed, he said.
"We want every school to have these components."
Twitter: @bjaminwood