Malia Riggs
Elmore/Autauga News
Ground has already broken for a new Prattville Kindergarten School building that is projected to be open for the coming 2024 school year, Superintendent Lymen Woodfin confirms.
Construction crews are working diligently to meet the fast-approaching deadline for the new state-of-the-art kindergarten school in Prattville. The school is set to be done in July of 2024 and to open for the 2024 school year.
With 32 classrooms in total, 28 for kindergarten and four for preschool, the school will be able to accommodate over 600 kids. “This is a great opportunity for parents to see that our board and community members value education and to provide our kids with the best education possible,” Woodfin said.
“What we are hoping is to get some excitement from our teachers and hopefully with a new building and amenities that will up our enrollment in Autauga County,” Woodfin said.
With state-of-the-art facilities being built to specifically focus on early childhood development, this new building is being built with a strict focus of a kindergartner in mind.
“All across the board you’ll see the best technology that can possibly be in there, teachers will have more child friendly resources in terms of furniture, in terms of teaching materials and even the playgrounds. It’s based off age and development,” Woodfin said.
Woodfin alluded to the previous board understanding that numerous buildings are aging within the district. But with this new building, “it lets us start from the ground up, in terms of grade level buildings,” Woodfin said. “The current kindergarten building is sentimental to all of us, but that building was built in the early 1900’s and that facility is wearing out our current budget.”
Rebecca Thomas, the communications coordinator for Autauga County Schools, hinted that it’s better to build from the ground up than to retrofit a building that has served as many other things throughout the years including a junior high.
The new building will have concrete encased hallways which comply with the current guidelines and building codes for the state of Alabama. It is meant to withstand over 250 mph winds from tornados and other storms.
“I’m really excited about it, I think it should be a great opportunity for our parents, students and community,” Woodfin said.
Enrollment for the coming 2024 school year will start on January 15th and go through March 27th. All other information for enrollment is on the Prattville Kindergarten website.
For building updates on the Prattville Kindergarten School and other happenings around the district visit the Autauga County Schools YouTube page.
