Hall County School District officials broke ground Wednesday morning on a new elementary school on McEver Road which will replace two longstanding schools in the area.
The school, which is being referred to as "Replacement Elementary School #2" until a name is selected, is located at 5240 McEver Road, next to McEver Road United Methodist Church in Oakwood.
When it opens in August 2025, the school will merge the student populations of Oakwood Elementary School and McEver Arts Academy. This is the second new elementary school to merge two elementary schools together. The first being Sandra Dunagan Deal Elementary School, which will open later in 2024 and merge Riverbend and White Sulphur elementary schools.
"We've got a lot of students in the Hall County School District that are still going to school in buildings that are 50, 60, 70 years old and were built for very small populations," Hall County Schools Superintendent Will Schofield said. "They're not only inefficient in terms of economics, but they're also inefficient in terms of what we can offer programmatically."
Carroll Daniel Construction is serving as the developer, while Robertson Loia Roof serves as the architect.
"16 months from now, the hallways and classrooms of this building will be filled with laughter, friendship and learning," Jeremy Boleman, principal of Oakwood Elementary School said at the groundbreaking. "Dreams will be conceived and students will be supported upon their journey to maximize their potential."
Schofield said he was thankful for the community's support.
"I'm just humbled to be part of this community that opens up their checkbooks, opens up their wallets, and gives us the proceeds to put kids in this world-class space," Schofield said.
