The Chesterfield County (Va.) district has held a virtual ribbon-cutting ceremony as it gets ready to open a rebuilt Crestwood Elementary School in Richmond.
The Richmond Times-Dispatch reports that the 96,000--square-foot facility will be able to accommodate 750 students when it opens its doors on April 13.
As the school was being built for the past two school years, Crestwood has made a temporary home in trailers at Bon Air Elementary.
Crestwood Principal Lindsay Porzio thanked the elementary school’s neighbors and community.
“Our school is the consummate neighborhood school tucked in here quietly in a cul-de-sac surrounded by homes and woods. They [the neighbors] have supported us like a family member for the last, almost 60 years,” Porzio says. “We appreciate your patience and grace during this construction, and hope that this brand new school is s something that we can all be very proud of.”
The original school opened in 1962. When conversations began about tearing down the school and replacing it, the community responded with hesitation and concern.
Mary Fain, Crestwood’s former PTA President, said in the beginning families’ attachment to the old building created hesitation for being on board with it coming down.
“Crestwood prides itself on being a community school,” Fain said. “Change is hard. Hopefully [the families] will love the new school as much as the old one.”
Funding for the new Crestwood Elementary came from the $402 2013 bond referendum approved in 2013.
