Glenwood School expanding to accommodate enrollment growth

Glenwood School will expand its facilities and reconfigure its grade structure to accommodate its enrollment growth.

The Phenix City private school announced its plan in a news release.

In the past five years, Glenwood’s enrollment in pre-kindergarten through 12^th grade has grown 31 percent, from 485 to 636 students, headmaster Frankie Mitchum told the Ledger-Enquirer on Friday. The expansion project will give the school space for 100 more students, he said.

“We hope for it to be ready by next school year,” Mitchum said.

The project, estimated to cost approximately $350,000, will produce a 2,000-square-foot media center and a 1,500-square-foot administrative complex, comprising five offices, a reception area and The Gator Shop merchandise store.

The expansion will enable Glenwood to convert the media centers in the lower and upper schools into classrooms. The upper-school computer labs and the counselor’s office also will be converted into classrooms. The upper-school administrative offices will be used for instructional support services.

The grade reconfiguration will move the sixth grade to the upper school to create a middle school for grades 6-8, separated from grades 9-12, “thus allowing the faculty and staff to meet the needs of two vastly different student groups,” the release says.

All of which will result in six new classrooms.

“This is an exciting time at Glenwood,” Mitchum said in the release, “and I am pleased that the board continues to demonstrate that our students are our top priority. I am also very appreciative of CB&T of East Alabama and the donors who have stepped forward.”

This story was originally published January 20, 2017 at 4:06 PM with the headline "Glenwood School expanding to accommodate enrollment growth."