Built in 1912-13 to a design by Miller & Mayo of Portland, it is historically significant for its role the city's education, and architecturally as a fine example of a "modern" elementary school building of the period.

The former Emery School building is located south of Biddeford's main business district, on a lot bounded by Hill, Birch, and Summer Streets.

It is a two-story brick structure, trimmed in cast stone and granite, facing south toward Birch Street, separated by a paved parking area.

Belt courses of stone demarcate the floors, and the cornice of the main hipped roof is of pressed metal.

Designed in the Colonial Revival style by the Portland firm of Miller & Mayo, it adhered to guidelines published by the state in 1904 for the required properties of elementary school buildings, which included detailed prescriptions for the use of materials and layout and size of classrooms, and replaced four smaller elementary schools.