Johnston County Schools Opens New Facilities
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A couple of new schools have recently opened in Johnston County, and a couple more are on the way.
First, an all-new Princeton Elementary School opened in July 2008, followed one month later with the opening of the new Powhatan Elementary School. Soon to come are Cleveland High School and Corinth-Holders High School, which will both open in August 2010.
“The two new schools will reduce the overflow from Clayton High School, Smithfield-Selma High and West Johnston High,” says Terri Sessoms, public information officer for Johnston County Schools. “Both new facilities will open with ninth and 10th grades, then will keep adding a grade each year until they become four-year high schools.”
Cleveland High is currently under construction on Polenta Road in Cleveland, and Corinth-Holders High is being built on Applewhite Road in the Corinth community.
“Both schools will have approximately 240,000 square feet, including classrooms, a 600-seat auditorium, a 500-seat cafeteria, large media center, one competition gym that will seat 1,500, as well as an auxiliary gym,” Sessoms says. “All of the athletic facilities will be ready when the schools open, with a football stadium and track, baseball and softball complex, soccer field and tennis courts.”
Each school is designed to ultimately accommodate 1,200 students, with space for a large classroom addition if needed in the future.
“Johnston County is somewhat different from other places in the state because we have decided to build smaller schools, not larger ones, in order to maintain a community feel,” Sessoms says. “We believe that our close-knit neighborhood schools will make the difference in the lives of our children.”
Johnston County is currently one of the fastest-growing counties in the state, with more than 31,000 students attending 43 schools. The school system has built numerous facilities in recent years to house the 1,000 to 3,000 new students who continue to enter the district annually.
Story by Kevin Litwin
