County breaks ground on new school

Philadelphia and Greenback school projects also scheduled to ‘keep the kids first’

Adam Delahoussaye news-herald.net

After four years of planning, a year of deliberation and continued commitment from residents and educators, Loudon County officials — currently in control of one of the fastest-growing counties in the state — were met with overwhelming support on Thursday, June 12, as they broke ground on their three new school projects.

As the rain enriched the soil where the new high school and two new extensions are set to be erected, celebration ensued with the promise of a new and expanded community.

“This is a great accomplishment to be able to get to this point where we’re actually starting to move some dirt,” said Director of Schools Mike Garren in an interview with The Loudon County News-Herald.

PHILADELPHIA ELEMENTARY EXPANSIONS

The first of three ceremonies began at Philadelphia Elementary, where educators and students gathered to commemorate their new extension coming in the form of 11 new classrooms and an auditorium to alleviate the stress of overcrowding that has been a consistent complaint for years.

In his speech, Garren said the students are ecstatic to move out of offices, closets and portables to be able to learn in real and cram-free classrooms.

The renovation sees seven of the new classrooms in the main circle of the campus, accompanied by the new auditorium, as well as four more classrooms toward the front of the building.

The office suite will also be moved during the refurbishment in an effort to prioritize safety and give the school a more controlled form of entrance into the building.

The project is slated to cost

$6,178,000.

According to the Loudon County School System, Philadelphia School currently serves around 600 students from preschool through eighth grade.

“Keep the kids first — no matter where they’re at in the county,” said Loudon Board of Education Chairman Bobby Johnson. “It doesn’t matter if they’re a Redskin, Cherokee, Warrior or a Star.”

With the arts being a priority, it felt fitting that the school’s choral group sang a tune that will no doubt echo into the new facilities by future Warriors for years to come.

After speeches and thanks were given, renditions of “When I Grow Up” and “Revolting Children” from “Matilda the Musical” rang out in the school’s gymnasium.

Call it an early rehearsal for the new auditorium. Students also chanted their cheer, “Love the purple, live the gold!”

NEW NORTH END SCHOOL

The road trip continued as the caravan rolled along to First Baptist Church Lenoir City — which in two years time will be getting a lot of new neighbors.

Just behind the church off of Simpson Road, the new Loudon County high school comes in anticipation of the immense growth currently seen at the intermediate education level throughout the county.

Officials are hoping that a new facility will divide a massive potential student body down the middle.

The school is planned to house students in the seventh through 12th grades.

Director Garren said that the current plan is to convert North Middle, currently housing fifth through eighth-graders and continuously cited as over capacity, to a fourth- through sixth-grade school. The seventh- and eighth grade NMS students will then move into this new North End School.

Once the new school is complete, Eaton Elementary will only go up to third grade and begin sending their students to the new school as well. According to Cope Architecture, the designers of the building, maximum capacity is roughly estimated at around 1,300 students … with designed room for expansion.

“Right now, all of our county students that go to North Middle School transition to the city high school [Loudon],” Garren said. “So then the county students will start transitioning to this school from the middle school. So it’ll be a single transition.”

According to the Loudon County Schools’ website, there are around a total of 5,000 students in the system; 760 of those students attend Eaton Elementary with another 775 at North Middle.

Loudon High School serves approximately 800.

DESIGN PLANS INCLUDE WIDE VARIETY OF COURSES, CURRICULUMS

North End is planning on offering a wide variety of courses and curriculums to students once its doors are open. Dedicated CTE classrooms for automotive, HVAC, agriculture, cosmetology, welding and construction courses are all included in the design plans.

The school is also slated to have three gymnasiums, a multi-use auditorium and various science labs throughout the building.

While Garren didn’t have an exact end date to construction, the estimated time of completion is two years and two months from the time plans are sent to Blaine Construction, the contractor in charge of the project.

Hopefully, Garren said, students will be in the building and attending classes by the fall of 2027. In total, the construction of this 250,000-square foot building is set to cost $81,850,000.

But the expanded and expensive education facilities received contention and opposition at a lot of levels. The votes to approve the bonds for and raise the county’s property tax in an effort to help pay for the project were both narrowly approved by a 6-4 vote from Loudon County Commission.

Plenty of residents over the past year have gone on to voice their concerns as well, demonstrating a schism between various groups on the belief of how county funds should best be spent. During the June 12 ceremony, speeches varied in detail while still holding onto a clear thesis statement: Spending taxpayer dollars on the future of the county isn’t only warranted but desperately needed.

“We’re out of classrooms, officially,” said North Middle School principal Kayla Vaughn. “We have teachers on carts now, but you know what? Bring on more kids.”

Chairman Johnson got fiery as he cited insensitive pushback to emphasize the true priority in light of the county’s current growing pains.

“I grew up here, and this place means a lot to us,” Johnson said. “We’ve got a lot of people moving in and it doesn’t mean the same to them as it does to us.

“[The kids] mean a lot to us,” he said. “This is our community, these are our kids and we’re gonna take care of our kids because that’s what we do.”

“I don’t know what you do everywhere else but here we love our kids — no matter who they are or where they’re from.”

And while welcoming with open arms the influx of new students expected to migrate into this riverside community, officials are hoping that they can make this new home leave a lasting impact.

In his remarks, Loudon County Mayor Buddy Bradshaw proposed the potential of implementing a Bible course in the curriculum — the credit received contributing toward a student’s progress toward graduation.

Bradshaw, along with multiple officials, gave their thanks to leadership and First Baptist in Lenoir City for their assistance and cooperation in the development of the project so far.

Closing the ceremony was the North Middle School Band, a school which is anticipating a roster of nearly 140 players next school year. As they warmed up for their future under Friday night lights on the very ground football is slated to be played in a few years, the chapter of vying for approval got its close as a new one of construction opened.

Director Garren said he and his board will have naming the new school, as well as picking its mascot and colors, among the orders of business in the near future.

GREENBACK SCHOOL’S AUXILIARY GYM, FOOTBALL STADIUM

Lastly, leaders and students convened at Greenback School to hold their groundbreaking ceremony for the new auxiliary gym and football stadium. The new football stadium will feature a track around it further boosting the athletic facility to host many different kinds of events.

Cope Architecture, the Knoxville- based firm in charge of the two other projects, will be partnering with the school in building these two facilities.

Many school board members and county officials were in attendance. This includes the school board chairman from the second district, Bobby Johnson Jr., who emphasized putting students first when giving the go-ahead on the project for Greenback.

“We didn’t forget you [Greenback School],” said Johnson. “Look at everything you have now been blessed with.”

“This is awesome.” County Mayor Bradshaw also spoke about the new facilities at Greenback and how it will benefit the students and athletes repping the Cherokees’ brand.

“I challenge anybody who says that the student-athletes don’t deserve the best in order to show what you have got to show,” Bradshaw said. “If you are willing to put in the work to be an athlete, Loudon County is going to support you … bottom line.”

New Greenback athletic director and coaching legend Bill Satterfield also was grateful that Greenback was receiving the same opportunities at new athletic facilities that other schools were getting.

“The leadership from the education and director of schools are on the same page now,” said Satterfield. “Every student in Loudon County, Greenback, Philadelphia, Lenoir City and Highland Park are all going to be treated the same and given the same opportunity.”

Following the many speeches from education and county leadership, different groups posed for pictures shoveling the ground on the site of the new auxiliary gym. This included the Loudon County officials, Greenback teachers and coaches, and even the Cherokees’ football and soccer teams.

There was also food for people who attended the ceremony. A food truck was on site and a big Greenback Cherokees cake was made for everyone to enjoy.

Big things are coming to the Greenback School. A new 7,8000-square foot gym and football stadium with a track provides more opportunities for athletes and the general student population, supporters say.