The Wood County (West Virginia) district has broken ground on a school that will replace Vienna Elementary.
The Parkersburg News and Sentinel reports that the school is being built on an eight-acre site in Vienna donated to the district by the West Virginia University at Parkersburg Foundation. The land is behind the university's new Innovation and Technology Center on the former Ohio Valley University campus.
The school will have a middle school-sized gym, a second-floor media center and 59,231 square feet of space, designed for a projected enrollment of 522 students.
Originally, the district considered rebuilding the new school at the existing Vienna Elementary site or constructing a new facility at Jackson Park. That changed because of concerns about space, traffic, soil conditions and class time interruptions.
"The students at Vienna Elementary would have had to continue going to school in the mobile construction zone. That would not have been ideal,” Superintendent Christie Willis said.
Officials said the new elementary school promises families a safer, more modern learning environment with updated facilities, improved traffic flow and specialized spaces for students with diverse needs.
The building will have a true secure entrance – a feature older schools either lack or have in improvised form, Willis said. Detached “portable” or standalone classrooms, long criticized as unsafe and inconvenient, are also being eliminated.
The playground designs are another key upgrade, both for safety and convenience. All equipment will comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act, and the play areas will be tucked inside the footprint of the building and fenced, with direct classroom access.
The internal layout is designed so that the gym and cafeteria can be used for evening events while classroom wings remain locked.
Construction on the new Vienna Elementary is expected to be finished before the start of the 2027-28 school year.
