MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Shelby County Schools opened the doors to the new Westhaven Elementary School Friday, so the community could see the highly-anticipated building.
“To walk through these halls, these new halls, is just absolutely great,” said Bridget Bradley with the Westhaven Parent Teacher Organization.
She and other parents, students, and community members fought hard for the new school building.
“They walked up and down these streets for this school. They did what they had to do to make this school happen, and I am just overwhelmed right now, really overwhelmed,” she told WREG.
There were issues with the previous, aging building.
Westhaven was on the closure list in 2014.
“I teased them the last time I was in Westhaven, they were yelling and screaming at me, but they’ve taken that same passion and translated into something very good,” said Superintendent Dorsey Hopson with a smile.
The community took its fight to the Shelby County School Board too.
SCS said that in March 2014, the board approved the recommendation to rebuild the school.
Westhaven will be a part of the district’s iZone turnaround model, under the leadership of Principal Rodney Rowan, who already oversaw gains at Cherokee Elementary.
iZone aims to improve schools that are in the bottom five percent in the state.
“This is the next chapter, Westhaven, and we’re going to get better faster,” Rowan said.
Hopson believes Westhaven is an example of rightsizing the district, making the best use of its resources.
He expects the district could see more of this elsewhere.
“In too many of our impoverished areas of town, you may have two or three schools, they’re all in states of disrepair, they’re all under-enrolled, under-utilized. so it just seems to make sense to combine those schools and where appropriate, build a new school,” Hopson said.
“As long as the children are being served, that’s the most important thing,” Bradley said.
Many students attended Fairley and Raineshaven Elementary Schools while the building was under construction.
Westhaven has two playground areas, two computer labs, and room for about 800 students.
Class will be in session at Westhaven when the school year begins on August 8.
Read More:
Westhaven Elementary being rebuilt from ground up
Parents, SCS officials concerned about building timeline
Parents celebrate the demolition of Westhaven Elementary School
Westhaven supporters celebrate saving the school
