Wednesday, Jun. 22, 2011

McBride to get new school

The staff and students of McBride Elementary School will get a new building next year.

H.R. 2055, which provides for military construction funding, passed in the House of Representatives June 14. Included in the bill is funding for several education-related projects on Fort Benning, beginning with a new school.

Built in 1968, McBride Elementary is not the oldest school on post, but it is the most in need of expansion, said Fordyce Stone, educational operations manager.

“They go by the quality of the building,” he said. “To satisfy the number of students coming out of (the McGraw) neighborhood, we need a bigger school.”

Because of the size of the student population — more than 400 this spring — some students had to be bused to Loyd Elementary School, Stone said. The new school will accommodate up to 650 students, making McBride the largest of the elementary schools on post.

The facility will be constructed in an open northeast of the current building. When construction is complete, students and staff will transition to the new school and demolition will begin on the old building.

McBride principal Phyllis Parker said she looked forward to the change.

“Right now, we’re a little cramped, but we’re making things work with the expectation that one day we’ll have space,” she said. “With our enrollment being over 400, it’s difficult to have programs where we want the entire student body to be involved and their parents. The idea (is) that we can spread out and do more things.”

The school population has grown by leaps and bounds in recent years, said Parker, who came to the school in 2006 when there were about 150 students.

When the construction is finished, McBride will have a separate gym and cafeteria, office space for the guidance counselor, school psychologist and other personnel and larger classrooms.

Stone said he estimated the entire project will cost around $20 million.

“It’s going to be a 21st-century school,” he said. “It’s going to have all the new technology. It’s going to have all the right size facilities. Forty years ago, we built to a whole different size and needs down to the electrical needs in a classroom. It’s going to be much nicer, much more conducive to learning.”

The planning on the project goes back about two years, Stone said.

It will be the first school on post to receive a completely new building, he said.

“It is very exciting,” he said. “(This) doesn’t happen often in our lives as educators.”

Photo by John Peeler McBride: McBride Elementary School will be the first school on Fort Benning to get a completely new building.