Newton County Board of Education members got a look at what the new Newton High may look like when system architects on Tuesday unveiled initial renderings. The board voted earlier in the year to phase out Newton High and several other schools in their five-year facilities plan. On Tuesday, Cunningham Forehand Matthews & Moore Architects Inc. presented several views of what the new school could look like and explained where classrooms would be. It’s no coincidence that the renderings resemble the county’s newest high school, Alcovy, according to Ray Moore, architect for the school system. After speaking with officials from each high school as well as administrators from the school system, architects were able to learn what everyone liked and disliked about their schools and plan accordingly. The consensus was that the new school should be similar to Alcovy, with some minor adjustments. One difference is that the two-story Newton High building will be constructed with pre-cast concrete instead of steel, as was used in Alcovy. Newton will hold 2,500 students. Its main entrance will have a covered walkway and open into a common area that is slighter wider than the one at Alcovy. To the left of the common would be a media center and ninth grade classrooms, with special education and science labs on the upper level. To the right would be the office, cafeteria and auditorium and behind that would be the ROTC room,
The rendering shows a gym with retractable seating, much like that at Alcovy. There will also be locker rooms on either side of the gym. The school will be built with capital outlay money, according to Deputy Superintendent for Operations Dr. Dennis Carpenter. Any local funding would come from Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (SPLOST). SPLOST money can only be used to build new schools and cannot be moved to other funds to pay for things such as teacher salary or school operation. Contractors will need to begin work on the new building in spring 2011 for it to open as planned in 2013. The school system does not have a site for the new school and the bid for construction has not been put out.
