HANCEVILLE, Ala. – The Cullman County Board of Education (CCBOE) was busy on Wednesday, loading up on a school bus in the morning and visiting several county schools. Two of their stops were particularly important, as they officially celebrated the groundbreakings for new additions at Hanceville Middle School and the Child Development Center (CDC). Their first stop was in Hanceville to break ground on a $3.3 million, long-awaited addition to Hanceville Middle School. The addition includes several classrooms, a library, meeting space, as well as a tornado shelter. The new building will replace Edmondson Hall, one of the oldest buildings in the district. The CCBOE will be able to complete this project by using state funds and grant funds.
Cullman County Schools Superintendent Dr. Shane Barnette
“It’s no secret that Hanceville has been neglected for several years as far as our infrastructure here, but we’ve come a long way and we’re getting where we need to be. While these buildings that we tore down are super important to the history of Hanceville, we’ve got to move forward and look for what’s best for our kids. I think this is a huge addition to that,” Barnette said. “We’re also remodeling the elementary building for the growth. Hanceville continues to grow and I’m sure you’ve heard that we’re going to separate it into two different schools. We’re going to have a Hanceville Primary School and a Hanceville Elementary School. That’ll allow us to be more hands on running those schools and allow for growth as well.”
Hanceville Middle School Principal Elizabeth Watwood
“We are very excited because we’re growing. Numbers at the Elementary school are huge and this will provide us the space to accommodate those students when they move up,” Watwood said. “It’s going to be nice. We’ll be spread out and have more classrooms. It’s been a while since we’ve had an update at the middle school so we’re all very excited.”
The next time they broke out the shovels was in Vinemont at the Child Development Center. The $2.4 million addition will include eight classrooms, and each classroom will have a bathroom. The facility will also serve as a storm shelter for the campus. These changes will also allow for the car rider line to move to the back of the campus and more parking spaces will be added. This project is also being built by using state funds and grant funds.
Child Development Center Principal Trett Hardman
“We are extremely excited and extremely thankful to Dr. Barnette and the Cullman County Board of Education members for seeing the need to invest in our school and our students here. It’s been great. In the last two years here, we’ve had a lot of changes. We added the lobby, painted the building, made some facility upgrades and getting this new building is just kind of the cherry on top,” Hardman said. “It’s going to be additional classrooms on the back of the campus and some of our rooms here that are smaller in size will be able to move out there to have a full-size classroom. Within that we’ll also have bathrooms and with some of the needs of our students here that’s going to make it easier for our staff to help with that. We’re super thrilled and super excited to have it.”
Cullman County Schools Superintendent Dr. Shane Barnette
“As you could see from walking inside and seeing how cramped we are in there, we’re way behind schedule to have something like this,” Barnette said. “It’s much needed and this is just the beginning. I know we’re going to need some other facilities, but this will get us into the future a little bit. These kids are the reason why we’re doing it, and it can’t get done fast enough.”
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