A large crowd was on hand to celebrate the opening of the new South Point Elementary during the ribbon cutting ceremony and community open house on Tuesday, August 17.
The new South Point Elementary is located just off Highway 100 at St. Johns Road. The address is 4328 St. Johns Road, Washington, MO 63090.
Speaking at the event were School District of Washington Superintendent Dr. Jennifer Kephart, former Superintendent Dr. Lori VanLeer, Board of Education President John Freitag, and South Point Elementary Principal Aimee Harty.
Following the speakers, the ribbon cutting took place, signifying the opening of the new school.
South Point Elementary staff members then give tours of the new building.
Washington VFW donated an American flag for the flag pole at South Point Elementary.
The two-story, approximately 78,000-square-foot school will serve kindergarten through sixth grade. It is designed to serve up to 550 students, but could be expanded in the future.
The building is angular with both rustic and industrial flair inside and out featuring a dynamic color scheme, collaborative spaces for each grade level and a light-filled library/maker space.
The new school was funded through Prop S, a $26 million no-tax increase bond issue approved by voters in April 2019.
K&S Associates Inc. of St. Louis handled the construction of the new building.
The new South Point Elementary is architecturally designed to create innovative learning spaces that will enhance the students’ school experience and success. The collaborative spaces throughout the building incorporate various colors and seating options that will allow for flexible grouping, a team teaching approach and promotion of inquiry-based learning. Each of these approaches will help the students connect more deeply with their own learning, school family and the community as a whole. Students will be immersed in hands-on projects that combine learning targets with critical thinking and problem solving skills and have a personalized approach to academic growth.
The School District of Washington is excited to share this new learning space with the community and looks forward to continually promoting the inquiry-based thinking that will be taking place at South Point Elementary.
Photos from South Point Elementary’s ribbon cutting and community open house are below.
