HOT SPRINGS -- The Hot Springs School District broke ground on its $37.8 million Hot Springs World Class High School "super campus" on Wednesday, starting with construction of a new high school building this month and the project continuing through June 2025.
The heart of the project is a 140,000-square-foot, three-story high school building that will sit on the west end of campus on Emory Street next to the current 1968 building.
Local government officials and legislators joined community members at the groundbreaking ceremony, as did Hot Springs World Class High School students and seventh- through ninth-graders from the Hot Springs Junior Academy, who will be the first classes to attend the new school when it opens in fall of 2025.
"We are proud to be building this building without requesting any increases in our current millage rate," Hot Springs School District Superintendent Stephanie Nehus said. "We have worked tirelessly to be good stewards of our finances, finances that are so generously provided by our taxpayers."
The School Board, at its May 16 regular monthly meeting, approved a $25,590,000 construction bond to finance construction of the school building itself.
Phase 2 will involve tearing down the current high school, building a new general-purpose gymnasium, and remodeling the science building to serve as an extension of the Junior Academy.
Phase 3 will see construction of a new soccer field and tennis courts that will sit in between the two buildings.
"As a school board, we're constantly looking for ways to give more resources to our students, and this is just an outward example of that," board President Ann Hill said.
"We are looking every day for ways to meet their needs, and having this be one beautiful, super campus where they can come and go from different facilities and different buildings, and again, feel safe and feel secure, that's just another thing that is so important to us. So we're so honored to be able to do this," she said.
High school Principal Kiley Simms said the construction of the new building is a significant milestone in the community's commitment to education and the growth of its young minds.
"Let this groundbreaking today not merely be a laying of a physical foundation, but a reminder that the framework for knowledge, inspiration and boundless opportunities occurs daily in any school. As always, it is our goal that this high school will serve as a haven of learning, a place where dreams will be nurtured and transformed into reality," she said.
"Like the groundbreaking that took place 55-ish years ago right over there, this groundbreaking ceremony marks the beginning of a journey, a commitment towards excellence, innovation and inclusivity."
Simms said the project serves as a testament to the community's "unwavering commitment" to investing in future generations.
"I would say our high school has served our community very well since it was built in the late '60s," she said. "And anytime we build a school -- this is my first opportunity to sit in on that -- but we're building toward the future. So it's really important to look at where we are now, then everything we hope and dream for our school and students and community, that's what we want to put into it. And that's what we were able to do over the last 24 months in the planning process. So for it to come to fruition is just so exciting for our community."
Hot Springs World Class High School cheerleaders and band members join the Trojan mascot on Wednesday to celebrate the groundbreaking of a new high school. - Photo by Donald Cross of The Sentinel-Record
Local leaders join Hot Springs School Board members and the Trojan mascot to break ground on the new high school Wednesday morning at 821 Emory St. - Photo by Donald Cross of The Sentinel-Record