Houston County School District breaks ground on upcoming Veterans Middle School

KATHLEEN — Houston County School District celebrated the groundbreaking of the new Veterans Middle School in Kathleen on Friday morning, marking an upcoming expansion of their educational offerings. School district staff, the Board of Education, and community leaders met at the future school’s construction site for a celebratory gathering.

According to District Superintendent Dr. Mark Scott, the new school will be over 160,000 square feet and will include 60 classrooms, athletic fields, agricultural program facilities and a media center.

Scott noted the ongoing growth in the area serving Bonaire and Perry Middle Schools, driven by new housing developments. Although current classrooms are not over capacity, the district required modular classrooms to provide sufficient student accommodation.

“We’re looking forward to the first day of school on this new campus, and I think that this is one of the most tangible ways that we can ensure that as the community grows, we’re responding to the needs of this community,” he said.

Veterans Middle School students will transition to the adjacent Veterans High School. To ease traffic congestion, Veterans Middle School’s primary access point will be located on Piney Grove Road, while Veterans High School traffic will largely remain on Old Perry Road, leading to its entrance on Pamela Greenway Drive.

“We’re redirecting Pamela Greenway, the main road in front of Veterans High School, and then the road to the east end of Pamela Greenway will become the entrance to the new middle school,” Scott explained.

The school will be paid through 2022 E-SPLOST funds.

“We always want to be good stewards of the taxpayers’ dollars, and our board has really done that over a long period of time, and I just commend our board on continuing that process,” Scott said.

PBK Architects is responsible for the school’s design, while Parrish Construction Group is handling the construction. According to Scott, the design will be distinct and specifically optimized for student and staff productivity.

“We’ve built the prototypical middle school for last four or five middle schools that we built. This design is different and we’re excited for the community to see this design. The board members were excited about their new design, and it eliminates some wasted space,” he said.

Construction of Veterans Middle School is anticipated to finish by Fall 2027. This opening will mark the first new middle school in two decades, the last being Mossy Creek Middle School’s opening in 2007.

“It sounds like a long time away, but I can tell you from the people building and those people planning and doing the work, it will be here before we know it,” Scott said.