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n Cherokeean Herald n thecherokeean.com4A n Wednesday, September 12, 2012 n Cherokeean Herald n thecherokeean.com n Wednesday, September 12, 2012 5A

PHOTO: QUINTEN BOYD

k East Side Elementary

principal Holley Searcy stands in the middle of her

new office inside the

new, 86,000 square foot

building.

PHOTO: QUINTEN BOYD

k Joe Wright Elementary

principal Brad Stewart said he was

pleased with the new

campus, which covers

92,000 square feet.

PHOTO: QUINTEN BOYDDuring some downtime in class, students at Joe Wright Elementary peruse several books, including the adventures of the Gingerbread Man. Students were all smiles at both Joe Wright and East Side elementary campuses, enjoying the new amenities.

PHOTO: QUINTEN BOYDStudents in Jan Childs’ music class at East Side Elementary enthusiastically performed “Deep in the Heart of Texas” during their class last Thursday afternoon.

PHOTO: MARC MCCLOUD, JISDThe members of the Jacksonville School Board were integral in the approval of the construction projects at Jacksonville ISD. In front from left are Blaine Verhelle, Jeff Horton and vice-president Todd Travis. In back are board president James Houser, Jimmy Brown, Randy McCown and Dean Dublin. Also involved were former school board members Dale Jamerson and Joe Casey (not pictured).

2 new campuses launch 2012 school year in JacksonvilleJACKSONVILLE ISD

PHOTO: QUINTEN BOYDAspiring artists at Joe Wright Elementary made portraits of themselves and their reactions to the first day of school.

BY QUINTEN BOYDSTAFF WRITER

When school bells rang to start the 2012-13 school year, they also signaled a new beginning in Jacksonville as construction wrapped up on four projects around Jacksonville ISD.

The new school year marked the opening of two new build-ings – Joe Wright and East Side elementaries – and saw construction projects continue at Fred Douglass Elementary and Jacksonville High School. The projects are the culmination of three years of votes, construc-tion and progression.

During the 2010 election, Jacksonville voters passed a $49.865 million bond package to build new buildings for Joe Wright and East Side, repur-pose the cafeteria into class-rooms and enlarge the libraries at Fred Douglass and construct eight new science labs, a new cafeteria and kitchen area and repurpose the existing cafeteria into a band hall and the exist-ing band hall into classrooms at Jacksonville High School. Voters approved the bond, 2,175 to 1,675.

“All of this says we have a great support for our school district and the work done on each campus and for our kids and staff,” said superintendent Dr. Joe Wardell, following the 2010 election. “It is exciting and we are looking forward to the next step and bring needed facilities to our district.”

The vote followed a demo-graphic study in February 2010 by School District Strategies, detailing how the district should “expect to see larger enroll-ments at the middle and high

school cam-puses over the next five years as some larg-er classes move up through the system,” with an average annual increase of one percent throughout the entire district.

Ground was broken on the high school and Fred Douglass projects in April 2012, while groundbreakings at East Side and Joe Wright in August 2011.

The original Joe Wright El-ementary building still stands, while the original East Side building was torn down for construction of the new building. East Side was constructed in 1939, while Joe Wright opened in 1954.

As of last week, 502 students were enrolled at Joe Wright, and 612 students enrolled at East Side.

Parents and students got a look at the new campuses during “Meet the Teacher” night Au-gust 23. A date for a dedication ceremony for the new facilities has not been set yet, but one is tentatively planned for early November.

The approved guaranteed maximum prices were:

• East Side: $13,945,628• Joe Wright: $16,539,458• Jacksonville High School:

$14,304,583• Fred Douglass: $6,158,812JISD bought out several

contracts from subcontractors, giving the district a total savings of $748,184 on the projects.

Jeff Kirk of Pogue Construc-tion told the Jacksonville School Board in July 2011 that more than 400 subcontractors placed

733 bids on t h e E a s t Side and Joe Wright proj-ects alone.

In June 2011, Jeff

Edwards of Claycomb and As-sociates, the project’s architects, presented design plans for renovations at Fred Douglass, adding a kitchen, dining hall, two labs, three classrooms, an art area, a media center and a possible gymnasium.

Construction at Joe Wright is mostly finished, with play-ground equipment still com-ing in to the campus and the gymnasium floor needing to be installed. At East Side, workers are completing landscaping.

“Because of the way the landscape is, Joe Wright has two stories, with stairs and an elevator between floors,” said JISD public information officer Marc McCloud. “East Side is similar in construction, but since it was built on flatter land, it only has one floor. Windows were placed throughout both campuses to give them more of an inviting feel.”

Work at Fred Douglass is 64 percent completed, while work at the high school is 40.9 percent finished.

At the high school, construc-tion continues on the new cafete-ria and the connection between the main building. Students are currently receiving box lunches at both JHS and Fred Douglass until the cafeterias are completed.

At JHS, with money saved during the bidding process, the district chose to accept al-ternate bids for two Life Skills classrooms and a food service

PHOTO: QUINTEN BOYD

l Students at East Side Elementary relax in their new library. The libraries at both East Side and Joe Wright elementaries have nooks for story readings and computer/media stations.

Building For TomorrowQuality. Honesty. Integrity. POGUE – a trusted

industry name since 1979.

Building new schools, one smile at a time.

JHS

Fred Douglass Elementary

JHSJHSJHS administration office

It has been our privilege to work with the staff and

citizens of Jacksonville.

145 FM 2972 W. • 906-683-2630www.ccteachers.com

Visit our office for Member Appreciation Day Oct 19See us for loans, checking, savings accounts, certificates of deposit.

We offer direct deposit, payroll deduction and internet banking.

k Students get to explore

their new home at East Side

during a sched-uled fire drill

shortly after the beginning of

the school year.

k Both Joe Wright Elemen-

tary and East Side Elementary

feature similar color schemes throughout the

hallways.

m The architect’s plan at Joe Wright

Elementary School called for a multi-

level structure because of the

sloping terrain of the land.

Congratulations, JISD!COUNT THE SMILES!We’re proud of the new campuses at East Side Elementary School and Joe Wright Elementary – and the improvements at

Fred Douglass Elementary and Jacksonville High School.

Laying the Foundation for Tomorrow’s Leaders!

lab for students. Part of the money saved will also be used to construct a Wenger music instrument storage area and an elevator for the new band hall.

“It’s a great feeling to be able to actually deliver more to the community than was promised in the initial bond proposal, “ Dr. Wardell said, “due to the great pricing we received on the two new elementary schools.

“It has been an extremely busy summer at JISD, with two major campus moves, demolition of one campus (East Side), prepara-tions for the opening of two new schools on the first day of school, and construction taking place at two other sites. Our staff is to be commended for the way they have dealt with the many challenges that come up with so much going on at one time. It makes it easier when we stay focused on the benefits these improvements will provide for our students and staff now and in the years to come.”

For the latest aerial photos and updates on all four construction sites, visit http://jacksonville.tx.schoolwebpages.com/bond.

Dr. Joe WardellSuperintendent