After avoiding closure by Polk schools, Alturas Elementary will celebrate 111th anniversary

ALTURAS — Alturas Elementary is celebrating its 111th anniversary on Saturday with a party fit for a centenarian.

And the school has plenty of reason to celebrate after staving off a talked-about closure by Polk County Public Schools because of antiquated infrastructure, including the use of well water.

“The school will remain open in the hope that the newly approved residential developments will bring utilities closer,” Polk Superintendent Frederick Heid said.

District officials never announced the school’s closure, but it was an option on the table and included busing Alturas children across busy State Road 60 to a new school being built on the outskirts of Winter Haven.

Previously: These Polk residents hope to save 101-year-old Alturas Elementary School from closure

More: 'A magnificent little school': Alturas Elementary could close because of low enrollment

Saturday’s party is from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the school and will begin with recognition of alumni, as well as former and present school staff. That will be followed by a cake cutting and musical presentation by Alturas Elementary School children.

The rest of the day will be filled with free food and fun family activities, including bounce houses, train rides, a clown, a swamp buggy, a Polk County fire truck, a Polk County sheriff’s K-9 unit, a school book fair in the school library and a door decoration contest for the school classrooms. Winners of the door decoration contest will receive a pizza party.

“The community is invited to this special day in our community's history, especially all former and present-day alumni and school staff,” said Sherry Maberry, an alumna and an organizer of the event. “All Polk County School Board members are invited, too!”

There had been talk in December of closing the school down and transferring students to a new school until major reconstruction could be done on Alturas.

About 150 people packed into the schools’ small cafeteria a few weeks before Christmas to explain to Polk school officials that the school is at the heart of their town and to close it would “kill their community.”

Alturas has a few churches, a community store and a rural, agricultural atmosphere. Major social events include school plays and musicals. Many homes sit on an acre or more. The rolling hills are dotted by lakes, cattle, horses and remaining citrus groves. One woman has figured out a way to avoid the car line – she often picks up her children on horseback.

Many of the people in the audience that night attended the school, as did their parents, grandparents and great-grandparents. The school has been operational in the same spot on 4th Street since 1920, although there were earlier iterations of a school in Alturas.

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District officials, meanwhile, have said Alturas Elementary is expensive to maintain, at a cost of about $110,000 a year, and under-enrolled, with a capacity for 427 but an enrollment of 366 students.

However, county planners have approved several new subdivisions for the area.

A new school is being built at County Road 653 and Old Bartow-Lake Wales Road. It will house almost 1,000 students and alleviate overcrowding at Chain of Lakes Elementary School in Winter Haven, as well. The price tag is between $20 million and $30 million.

Construction crews could eventually tear down some of the older buildings at Alturas Elementary and construct new buildings that would be internet capable and have all modern amenities. But they would have to wait until county water and sewage served the school.

One audience member said one of several new housing developments about a mile away was going to have water and sewer systems and suggested the district inquire about running that line to the school site. Another man stood up and said he runs Alturas Utilities, which provides water to the community, and said they’re ready to serve the school.

For more information about Saturday’s event, contact Sherry Maberry at sherry.maberry@gmail.com.

Ledger reporter Kimberly C. Moore can be reached at kmoore@theledger.com or 863-802-7514. Follow her on Twitter at @KMooreTheLedger.

This article originally appeared on The Ledger: Alturas Elementary to celebrate its 111th anniversary and new life