Sixteen months since the groundbreaking last March, and only a year after construction began, the new Putnam County Elementary School officially opened with a late-afternoon ribbon cutting last Thursday, hosted by the Eatonton-Putnam Chamber of Commerce.
“This school is a product of vision, hard work, and collaboration,” Putnam County Board of Education Superintendent Derick Austin declared in his opening remarks.
“This is your space, a place to learn, grow, and build memories that will last a lifetime,” he added, referring directly to about two dozen young students on site, who will be among the first to inhabit the new school. “This building is more than bricks and mortar. It’s a promise; a promise that every child in Putnam County deserves the very best.”
Jordan Wilkins, PCES project manager for Carrollton-based RaLin Construction, which built the 126,000-square-foot school, confirmed Austin’s assessment.
“This school is a little different than others I’ve helped build so far, as some of the teaching areas include outdoor teaching gardens as well as interior collaboration spaces that can be opened up to other classrooms and allow the teachers to work collaboratively and team teach,” Wilkins said.
“It is a state-of-the-art facility; the crème de la crème. It was intentionally designed to make sure that the students got a top-quality learning experience,” he continued. “I really don’t think you could ask for much better in a facility than this.”
A couple of hundred local residents, including several city and county officials, were on hand for the ceremony and festivities, which included guided tours of the school by staff members, followed by a buffet-style meal in the school’s lunchroom, catered by Chick-fil-A.
Among the local officials attending the school opening ceremony were previous Putnam County Board of Education Superintendent Eric Arena, Putnam County Commissioners Dr. Stephen Hersey and Richard Garrett, Eatonton Mayor John Reid and City Councilman Michael Smith, and E-P Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Robbie King.
Whitney Smith, a 21-year veteran of the Putnam County school system but starting just her second school year as PCES principal, said she is excited about the future for PCES students.
“It’s such a fresh start for all of us,” Smith said. “It’s a new beginning to be able to do some new creative things instructionally, and just every day see celebrations of students.”
She also mentioned “collaboration” as one of the new building’s greatest features and explained from an educational standpoint, it makes creating a complete, cohesive program not only effective but easier.
“Collaboration means going beyond those four walls of that classroom, integrating math and science together, doing projects across the curriculum, or doing projects as two different classes together, or a whole grade level class together,” Smith explained. “So, there’s a lot of connection, focusing a lot on kids being able to explore and socialize together through their learning, rather than just sitting at a desk as their education.”
The new PCES will have 32 homerooms, Smith said, with approximately 50 classrooms or “instructional spaces,” based on configuration, and the school will serve approximately 600 students this year. They will be taught by about 70 teachers, with another 34 support staff, including office, custodial, and maintenance members.
Austin said he feels fortunate to see a new school built on his watch.
“This doesn’t come along every superintendent’s path. I’m happy to have experienced it. It’s been tough, but it’s been very rewarding, too,” he said. “We’ve all been working hard for the last couple of years to make this happen, and we’ve dealt with a few setbacks with rock and construction costs and being able to get certain things included [in the project], but we’re truly excited today because we’ve got a great, new building for our kids.”
When asked what she is most excited about with the new school, Smith repeated her enthusiasm for the collaborative spaces and how they will enhance the learning experience for students.
“But the thing that I can’t wait to see the most here is the kids,” she added. “I can’t wait to see their eyes and their faces when they come in the front door and see what’s been built for them here. It’s beautiful.”