New Ball-Chatham Elementary School: An Overview

In May 2008, the Ball-Chatham School District held a Strategic Planning Summit with 30 academic and community professionals who developed a plan for future development in the school district. One of the strategic objectives set forth was: “By 2012, facilities will be in place to meet our students’ needs.”

In the fall of 2008, action teams conducted a capacity audit and forecasted needs through the development of a 10 year report. Land and funding options were reviewed and, given the urgency of the information presented, the Board of Education voted in January 2009 to proceed with putting a building referendum on the ballet in the spring of 2009.

In March 2009, the district selected a site and entered an agreement to purchase land directly west of Glenwood High School.  The 40 acres on the west will be developed as a PreK-4 elementary school.  The advantages of this parcel included proximity to students on the north side, availability of utilities, and additional acreage for future expansion should the district continue to grow. In addition, Chatham Mayor Tom Gray offered a partnership agreement with the school district to help install electric transformers and other infrastructure needs.

On April 7th, 2009, district residents overwhelmingly voted to approve the building referendum. Specifically, the building referendum asked voters for permission to build a scaled-down version of a K-4th grade elementary school, and use the district’s cash reserves to pay for the project.

The new K-4 school should open in August, 2011. (See renderings) At that time, Pre-K through eighth grade students will be aligned in the following configuration: Pre-K would remain at Ball Elementary until the Phase II additions are complete.  K-4 students would be divided between the three elementary schools—Ball, Chatham and the newly constructed elementary. Fifth and sixth graders will be assigned to Glenwood Intermediate School and seventh and eighth graders will attend Glenwood Middle School.  The two grade configuration at GMS relieves overcrowding and allows for growth.  The growth accommodations at all three instructional levels will be fully addressed by the multi-phase plan.

Click to take a virtual tour of the architect's 3D model!
 

Budget for New Elementary School

Location of new elementary school - aerial view

Source: Google Maps
 

New elementary school footprint