HANCEVILLE, Ala. – Hanceville Middle School’s new addition has passed inspection and will be ready for students when school starts in August. The expansion brings six classrooms, meeting spaces, a library and a new front office. School officials say this project will help with growing enrollment and give students, faculty and staff more room.
Principal Elizabeth Watwood explained that the expansion meets needs that have come up as more students have enrolled in recent years. She also mentioned that some special education teachers have had to share space in portable buildings for the last two years.
The new addition will give those teachers their own classrooms and make space for future growth. Watwood said that every year, Hanceville Elementary School sends over 100 students to the middle school, which adds to the increasing enrollment. School leaders shared that students, faculty and staff are excited about the project. One teacher who will move into the new building has taught in the same classroom for more than 20 years, showing how important the new space is for longtime staff.
Watwood said this project also brings to life a vision from decades ago. The original floor plans from the 1980s show a hallway where the new addition is now, but that part was never finished back then.
“For those of us that have been around for a long time, or folks that taught here during the 80s, seeing this hallway actually built is like, we’ve waited years and years and years for this,” Watwood said.
The school expects the new addition to be completely ready when classes start again in August.
