Groundbreaking Held For New Kingsfield Elementary School
January 21, 2017
A groundbreaking ceremony was held Friday morning for the new Kingsfield Elementary School.
Lord & Son will build the new $25 million Kingsfield Elementary at 900 West Kingsfield Road next to Ransom Middle School. The 135,000 square foot school will serve 800 students.
“Our objective is to give relief to Pine Meadows and Beulah and help the growth that is coming to the mid-Escambia County area,” said Escambia County Superintendent of Schools Malcom Thomas. “Most of that growth is being spurred by Navy Federal. There are housing developments going up in the area and more planned developments in next three to five years. We know some of those homes will be families with children.”
The school is being funded by Local Option Sales Tax dollars and is scheduled to open in the fall of 2018.
Photos by Kim Stefansson for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
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8 Responses to “Groundbreaking Held For New Kingsfield Elementary School”
IMO…….they should set it up like Lipscomb and McArthur. Everything flows pretty smooth thru there.
I have picked up grandchildren in the past and it can be trying. For sure the roads will need be widened and more parking for those picking up children. However it will also take patience on the part of these who do pickup there children. If someone is old enough to operate a motor vehicle then they should be responsible enough to know what is right and what is wrong. Those drivers who take short cuts only serve themselves as if everyone else’s time is not as valuable. Some enforcement of traffic for sure is a great need but Law Enforcement shouldn’t have to instruct grow persons how to act. I to would get very upset also if someone drove thru my lawn just so they can save a little time. If i had to guess, most of the students who are getting pickup could and should ride the bus. I understand peer pressure but if you give into it, it will only get worse. ds
I am hoping that a actual traffic light to replace the blinking caution light goes up at the intersection of Kingsfield and 297A it already backs up as it is now with just 1 school.
I’m a retired public school teacher who lives near this new construction. In all my years of teaching, administrating, and mentoring fledgling educators, I’ve never seen anything as dangerous as what happens when Ransom Middle School releases students for the day. Kids, with no adult supervision, pour down West Kingsfield and into neighborhoods where they do not live. Their parents/grandparents line these residential streets in their vehicles, honking and dodging each other’s cars and trucks. All this happens while children are darting across the congested roads to get to their family vehicle. Driveways are blocked. I’ve been told property damage has occurred as folks power up into driveways and wheel out across lawns, snapping off irrigation sprinkler heads, in order to secure the ‘best’ places in line to pick up their students. And I’ve seen groups of children still waiting, at five o’clock [nightfall in winter] on a busy street corner, for their absent rides. Why the principal and Board of Education allow this to persist is a mystery to me? They may not have a legal obligation, though when I taught students had to be released to a responsible adult or ride the school bus, but they certainly have a moral obligation to protect these children and ensure they do not become victims of a road accident or of an adult predator on the very edge of the school’s property. I understand that some of these students are embarrassed to be seen being picked up at the school. And I understand there is a social stigma hereabouts to riding the school bus. I’ve taught sixth grade, as have my husband, my son, and my daughter. I know how hard these ‘in-between’ years are for kids. The bullying these days on Social Media only makes it worse. And I also understand that protected release [kids only getting into cars with adults who have the right to transport them or onto school buses] of students at the school can be a lengthy, inconvenient process. But the safety issue cannot be ignored. If you are a parent, you alone have the power to protect your child by doing the right thing.
Deb N.
What do you expect from the county? We don’t have the sharpest knives running escambia county…probably the dullest. Bunch of clowns.
I am wondering where you will put additional children that Navy Federal brings in when they go to Ransom and Tate? These schools are over crowded now and need so many repairs and upgrades, I am glad that we are getting the new school but I am concerned about the things i have mentioned.
$185 a sq ft…wow someone gonna make a killing…
Two thoughts: 1) But WHAT is going to be done about all of the additional traffic?!! Vehicles clog area neighborhoods every single day, and cars are backed up on Kingsfield for 30 minutes after Ransom lets out. 2) WHY were all of the trees removed?? It makes no sense to remove all of the mature pine trees if they wouldn’t have interfered with the construction or overall aesthetic of the new school. Very disappointing.