Darlington County breaks ground on new elementary school
DARLINGTON COUNTY, S.C. (WBTW) — Darlington County school officials celebrated the groundbreaking for a new elementary school on Thursday.
“I think this is an optimal place within the county where we wanted to be able to position this elementary school so it kind of hit on all of the checkmarks for us,” Superintendent Tim Newman said. “We believe our parents will believe the same thing when they get the chance to be that first in the car rider line.”
News13 photo / Curtis Graham News13 photo / Curtis Graham News13 photo / Curtis Graham News13 photo / Curtis Graham News13 photo / Curtis Graham Photo courtesy of Darlington County School District Photo courtesy of Darlington County School District Photo courtesy of Darlington County School District Photo courtesy of Darlington County School District
The new school, which has not yet been named, will be a consolidation of Rosenwald Elementary School and St. John’s Elementary School. It is being built on land between North Governor Williams Highway and Leavensworth Road.
The school will have about 630 students with an expansion capacity of up to 800. Plans call for it to be ready for the 2025-26 school year.
Newman was joined at the ceremony by members of the county’s board of education, district administrators, principals, project leaders and community members.
“We’re just really excited for the community that the school will be a part of, but most importantly for the children, for them to be able to benefit from all the educational opportunities that they will have with this new school,” Newman said.
Once it’s opened, Newman said the new facility will be a “world-class elementary school” that will provide “safe, higher quality learning spaces and opportunities.”
He also pointed out that it will be the fourth new school “we have been able to bring to our community in nearly as many years, replacing old buildings that long served their purposes.”
“Due to the outstanding fiscal management of the Darlington County Board of Education, we will fund the entire construction of this new school without raising any taxes in the district,” Board of Education Chair Wanda Hassler said. “This is an incredible accomplishment for Darlington County and the future of our students.”
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Dennis Bright is a Digital Producer at News13. He joined the team in May 2021. Dennis is a West Virginia native and a graduate of Marshall University in Huntington, West Virginia. Follow Dennis on, Facebook, X, formerly Twitter, and read more of his work here.
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