Forsyth County officials gathered Tuesday afternoon for a groundbreaking for the new Midway Elementary School located off Mullinax Road.
Dr. Jeff Bearden, Superintendent of Forsyth County Schools, said at the groundbreaking the new school will be built for 1,175 students. The current Midway Elementary School building located off Atlanta Highway in Alpharetta was built in 1961 and was built with fewer than 700 students in mind.
Midway Elementary Principal Daphne Rogers said the larger space was much needed in the growing area.
"We typically grow on average about 100 students a year ... so it's going to help support the growth in this community more than anything," Rogers. "We currently have about 750 students, and we're well over capacity with that."
The architect for the project is Lindsay Pope Brayfield & Assoc., Inc., and the construction firm is Carroll Daniel Construction.
Mike Sims, project executive with Carroll Daniel, said the site, which is located adjacent to Denmark High School, is about 87 acres. The school itself will be about 150,000 square feet once complete and will use almost the exact same footprint as Poole's Mill Elementary. The school has an estimated completion date of March 2024, which would allow it to open to students and families for the 2024-25 school year.
Sims said Carroll Daniel was happy to be involved with the construction of another school in Forsyth County.
"It means a lot," Sims said. "The fact that the county trusts us to come in and build a project like this and build so many projects in the county, it says a lot for us. It means a lot that the community believes in us to get this thing done for them."
Bearden said the school was being paid for with ESPLOST funding, which enables the completion of the projection without the need for any debt.
"We're just super excited and we're really grateful to the community and to the Board of Education for making this become a reality," Rogers said.
