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19 of 31 SPLOST-Funded Additions &
Renovations Complete
With a new year comes new and much-welcomed space at
Campbell Middle School and LaBelle, Norton Park and Russell
elementary schools in Cobb County. Major additions and
renovations at the four schools were completed over the
holiday break, adding 54 instructional spaces to the four
schools and eliminating the need for nearly 40 portable
classrooms. These improvements are part of the good news of
Cobb’s Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (SPLOST)
program, which has helped the Cobb County School District
refresh older facilities and build new ones. Nineteen of the
31 total SPLOST-funded additions and renovations are complete,
with the remaining 12 under way.
Russell Elementary in Smyrna is a prime example of how
older Cobb schools are benefiting from the capital
improvements program approved by voters in 2003. The nearly
40-year-old facility has undergone a complete electrical
rewiring throughout the entire building, had its gym
overhauled with new HVAC, carpet and roofing, and is preparing
to open its new addition to students. Principal Dr. Nancy
DiPetrillo said, “For the first time ever, all of the
buildings at Russell are connected, so students never have to
leave the facility to move from area to area. The result is a
safer, more connected environment.” Dr. DiPetrillo said that
Russell’s electrical rewiring will open up more widespread use
of technology, such as the school’s two new computer labs. The
school’s new addition includes new art and music rooms, while
the former arts facilities are being converted into a new K-2
science lab.
Lisa Hogan, principal of LaBelle Elementary in Marietta,
developed creative ways to get her entire faculty involved
with their new 10-classroom facility. Teachers in each grade
level worked together to create presentations on how their
grade would most effectively make use of space in the new
addition. The faculty voted for the Kindergarten and fifth
grade classes, which are already taking advantage of the new
classrooms. Ms. Hogan said, “The teachers love it because it
has given us access to technology that we’ve never had before.
With LCD projectors and laptop connections they can use lots
of new ways to reach students. We also have no more trailers,
which we’re very thrilled about.” LaBelle’s new building also
features a Pupil Personnel Center with research and support
materials for teachers, a Level Library for resource books,
and a new Parent Resource Center. Ms. Hogan said, “The Parent
Resource Center has lots of materials for parents, including
information on ways to work at home with children and
instructional books and tapes to check out. It is decorated
with an ‘at-home’ atmosphere, with couches and student
artwork.”
Campbell Middle in Smyrna opened new class spaces and is
undergoing ‘extreme makeovers’ in several areas. Principal
Lynne Hutnik said that the 11 new academic classrooms are
housing the school’s eighth grade language arts, math and
social studies classes and that final preparations are being
made to open fresh spaces for Campbell’s drama, business and
career connections classes. More than 30 new computers are
being installed in the business lab for student use. In
addition to the new classrooms, the school’s front façade has
been upgraded, the cafeteria and kitchen have been refreshed,
the media center has been refurbished and the school theater
has new sound and lighting equipment.
Dr. Hank Atwater of Norton Park Elementary in Smyrna is
equally excited about the changes to his school this year.
Following a major upgrade last summer that included a new
front office area and new suites for Reading Recovery, ESOL,
guidance services and the literacy model classroom, Norton
Park had 10 new classrooms open after the winter break. The
new addition is hosting five fifth-grade classes, four
fourth-grade classes and one second-grade class, each of which
had previously been housed in portable units. The school is
also benefiting from new carpet and parking areas and upgrades
to its plumbing and electrical systems.
To date, SPLOST II has allowed the Cobb County School District
to add 244 classrooms in 18 existing facilities and 419 in
seven new schools, with more to come. SPLOST continues to
prove its value to the Cobb community, helping make students’
educational experiences more rich, safe and rewarding.
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