Named in honor of Pennsylvania's sitting governor at the time, Andrew Curtin, a close friend of Lincoln's who quickly mobilized the Pennsylvania Reserves in support of Lincoln's call for troops, the camp officially opened on April 18, 1861, and also included a supply depot, hospital and prisoner-of-war camp.

By 1915, church members were raising the $38,000 necessary to create a significantly larger facility — one which would include a gymnasium, library, locker rooms, and shower baths which would be "open to all the young men and women of the community regardless of their religious affiliation" with the expectation that it would become "a 'social center' rivalling any in the State."

[7] Editors of the Harrisburg Telegraph wrote in April 1915 that the new church would "mark for all time the noted encampment, the location of which has been well nigh lost in the rapid growth of the town that has swept out over the open fields above Maclay street, where formerly was the tented military city, and has transformed them into populous, closely-built residence districts.

"[8] Additional community services continued to be added to the neighborhood, including the Camp Curtin Fire Station, which was built circa 1910–1911.

[17][18] According to 2014 enrollment figures, the student body included 739 pupils from grades 5th through 8th with 87.8 percent receiving free lunches due to family poverty.

[19] Ninety-eight percent of the school's faculty were rated by the Pennsylvania Department of Education as being highly qualified (per federal No Child Left Behind Act standards).

In 2010, according to the National Center for Education Statistics, the school enrolled 670 students from preschool through 8th grade in 2010, 575 of whom received federal free lunches.