Georgia District Plans K–12 Complex

The Savannah-Chatham County Public School System (SCCPSS) recently updated the public on the construction of a new K–12 Multi-School Campus in Garden City, Ga., according to local news. The facility will have the capacity for about 2,400 students and will welcome students from Groves High School, Mercer Middle School, and Gould Elementary School. The total cost of the project is about $135 million, and the district reported in March that the new campus would open for the 2023–24 academic year.

Amenities will include two gymnasiums, two cafeterias—one for high-school students and one for K–8 students—multiple media centers with both print and physical resources, and a 700-seat auditorium, according to WTOC.

“The design has a lot of really positive separation between the uses,” said David Hamilton with Charles Perry Partners, Inc. “The design lays out where…this group stays here, this group is here. It’s very well done.”

The campus will consist of four buildings, according to a district PowerPoint presentation. The K–12 building will cover 398,000 square feet and feature more than 100 classrooms, two administration suites, space for student services and counseling, an ROTC suite, and associated outdoor amenities like playgrounds and a multipurpose field. The Digital Media/CTAE Building will cover 44,000 square feet and feature CTAE labs for aviation and logistics, as well as digital media space. The Fieldhouse (33,000 square feet) and Campus Police Headquarters (23,000 square feet) will include athletic support spaces and a 3,000-seat stadium. Finally, the Athletics Complex (6,000 square feet) will provide space for restrooms, concessions, press boxes and dugouts, and athletic fields.

“It was just more conducive to combine our three schools on a campus, which is called the complex, and we have a design to keep the high schools separated. [We] have been very successful with our K–8 model, and we’re looking forward to everything coming together,” said District 8 Board Member Dr. Tonia Howard-Hall.

About the Author

Matt Jones is senior editor of Spaces4Learning. He can be reached at [email protected].

Featured

  • California School District Completes Elementary School Modernization

    The San Diego Unified School District in San Diego, Calif., recently held a ribbon-cutting for a whole-site modernization of Pacific Beach Elementary School, according to local news. The school first opened with one building in 1930 and added six more between 1938 and 1957.

  • DFW-Area District Opens New Replacement Middle School

    The Eagle Mountain-Saginaw Independent School District near Fort Worth, Texas, recently held a ribbon-cutting ceremony for a new replacement middle school campus, according to a news release. The new facility for Wayside Middle School, originally established in 1964, was built on the site of the former district administration building and funded through Bond Proposition A in 2023.

  • Children walking along bright school corridor with motion blur

    How Next-Gen Design Is Reshaping the Student Experience

    The environments where students learn play a crucial role in shaping their growth in and out of the classroom. By centering design on well-being, flexibility, and purpose, districts can ensure their facilities remain vibrant community assets for many years to come.

  • How a Portable Sink Helped an Art Classroom Run More Smoothly

    Classroom design decisions can have outsized effects on instructional time and safety at schools juggling mismatched infrastructure, strict budgets, and crowded schedules — particularly in the arts. Between spilled paint and dirty brushes, art classes run smoother with a sink in the studio. But many schools don’t have a sink in every art classroom.