The Bluefield Daily Telegraph reports that the school will replace Peterstown Elementary and Middle schools. The middle school was built in the 1950s and the elementary school in 1962; both had deteriorated to the point they must be replaced.
"We are just thrilled for the students," says Monroe County Schools Superintendent Joetta Basile. "It's been a long time coming. We are ready to see dirt moving."
The school building authority is providing $21 million of the $24 million project cost; local funding makes up the rest of the cost.
The district is hoping the school will be completed in time for a September 2021 opening.
The new school will have two separate wings, one for pre-K through fourth grade and the other for fifth though eighth grades, but under the same roof.
The school will sit on 40 acres of land on Route 12 a few miles north of Peterstown with a view of the Peters Mountain range.
