The Pulaski County Special School District hosted a groundbreaking ceremony on Monday, April 27, marking the start of construction on the new College Station Elementary School.
The new facility will replace the current elementary school and is designed to support modern learning environments, improved safety features, and expanded opportunities for students.
"I met with the community at the beginning of the year, and I said, 'I'm going to promise you this. As long as I'm superintendent, we're going to have College Station, and we will have a new one.' And today we make good on that promise,” said Jeff Senn, PCSSD superintendent.
The Board of Education approved the construction of the new school at its February meeting. The projected cost is approximately $11.1 million. Designed to accommodate more than 200 students in approximately 25,000 square feet, the new facility includes pre-k and k-5th grade classrooms, as well as a gifted and talented classroom. The new school also includes a special education suite and dyslexia room.
The event concluded with a ceremonial turning of the soil. Construction is expected to be completed next spring with an anticipated reopening of the school in the fall of 2027.
The ceremony included remarks from College Station Elementary Principal Anjelica Evans, PCSSD Board of Education Member Kierra Shephard (Zone 2), Doyne Construction Company President and CEO Dexter Doyne, and Progressive League of College Station executive board members Cloria Dozier and Austin Porter Jr.
"Most people here today attended College Station Elementary School, and that includes me, and I'm up in my 70s, so this is a glorious day,” Dozier stated.
Event attendees were able to retrieve bricks from the former College Station structure as commemorations of the day.
A key feature of the new structure will be its height and elevation so that once the structure is complete, families and passersby will no longer have to look down from Frazier Pike to view the school.
A special attraction of the building will be the exterior. The main entrance will include a multi-colored blue entrance to create a visual illusion of the scales on a dragon, which is the school mascot.
Other features of the school include a large media center with custom designed seating and shelving element, and the lobby will be a multipurpose space with lounge seating and a presentation wall.
“As we pick up our shovels today, we’re breaking ground on a new opportunity and a new era for College Station — for the community and for our children — to ensure that they have a brighter future and that they have everything that they need in a state‑of‑the‑art facility,” said Shephard.
