New schools named for Pelham
At its last April meeting, the Pelham Board of Education awarded the contract for construction of an elementary school, while also announcing the names chosen for all of the district’s new institutions.
After the seemingly endless debates about federal and state required testing, and the benefits and problems associated with common core standards in Pelham, some residents were reportedly pleased to receive the good news about the district’s two new elementary facilities, as well as its new middle school.
The school to be built in the Oak Mountain Business Park will be named Pelham Ridge Elementary. It will serve students K-5 and open in the fall of 2016. The Argo Building Company was awarded the contract to build Pelham Ridge with a bid of just over $19.1m. Construction is expected to start mid-June.
The current Valley Intermediate School, which currently houses grades 3-5, will be renewed next academic year as Pelham Oaks Elementary, which will replace the existing Valley Elementary. The ‘new’ school will serve students in grades K-5 who live in Pelham’s northern and western areas. The building will remain essentially the same, with just its name and use being changed.
The third academic institution to be christened is the new middle school, which is to be built on land currently occupied by the Belle Vista community of mobile homes and the City Park. This facility, which will not open until the 2017-18 academic year, will serve grades 6-8 and be named Pelham Park Middle School.
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