The Starkville Oktibbeha (Mississippi) Consolidated School District has partnered with Mississippi State University to build a new Starkville High School on the university campus.
The Magnolia Tribune reports that when the campus opens in summer 2028, the 227,000-square-foot facility will be home to nearly 1,400 students.
Officials say the project will be the first in the nation to have all 9th through 12th students from a district in a school on a college campus.
The high school will have classrooms with lab spaces, a cafeteria with outdoor patio, a 900-seat performing arts center, two gymnasium spaces with 2,600 and 400 seating capacities, two band halls, choral room and library, woodshop, photography dark room, sculpting and kiln area, field house, covered practice field and outdoor track.
In May, the Starkville Oktibbeha school board approved the issuance of a $101 million general obligation bond to pay for construction. This followed a $4 million allocation from the state legislature for the school.
Construction is happening in phases. Tree removal, earth work and site preparation began in April.
The Mississippi Institutions of Higher Learning (IHL) Board of Trustees approved the proposed exterior design of the high school on June 18. IHL approval is required for buildings constructed on public university campuses.
