$24.2 million northwest school g’breaking ‘a great day’
HARDIN VALLEY — As Northwest Knox County continues to grow and enrollment continues to swell at Hardin Valley and Karns elementary schools, both schools are now, or soon will be, considered overcrowded.
As a result, Knox County Schools broke ground on a new $24.2 million, 124,000-square foot Northwest Sector Elementary School Friday morning, Sept. 10.
The school, which has yet to be named, will be located at 10515 Coward Mill Road. It will have the capacity to serve up to 1,200 students and is expected to open its doors in the fall of 2023.
“This school is needed,” said Terry Hill, District 6 Knox County Commissioner rep who served District 6 on Knox County Board of Education before seeking her current office.
“This has been a long time in the making and I advocated for it when I was on the Board (of Education).”
“It’s a great day to be in Knox County, and this is such an exciting time for our growing community,” said Betsy Henderson, who replaced Hill on the BOE. “Building a new school for us has been one of my top priorities on the board, and even more important is building an amazing school culture.
“I look forward to celebrating a ribbon-cutting when this school opens in 2023.”
Featured will be 56 classrooms, three teacher work areas, two special education classrooms, two music rooms, two art rooms, a library, a 6,700-square foot gym with a stage and an ICC-500-compliant storm shelter that will house about 1,320 occupants.
KCS superintendent Bob Thomas labeled the new school “an important investment.”
“Hardin Valley and Karns are growing rapidly, and a new elementary school is for the families who live in those communities,” Thomas said. “This state-of-the-art school building will help the students in Northwest Knox County achieve academic success and support the work of outstanding educators.”
