A large crowd including Board of Education members, Rome Floyd Chamber members, Rome City Schools staff and students and more gathered at West End and East Central Elementary Schools on Wednesday afternoon as Rome City Schools held ribbon cuttings for both schools celebrating the opening of much-needed additions.
“We are extremely excited about this new addition opening up. It’s been something we’ve been looking forward to for a long time. Just seeing the excitement that the kids and the teachers have had for this has been fun,” West End Elementary Principal Dr. Dennis Drummond said. “The additional classroom space allows all of our homerooms to be in a building. We are excited about the cafeteria expansion and being able to seat about 100 more students.”
The addition to West End adds eight classrooms and some new bathrooms. It also expands the cafeteria allowing more seating for both students and teachers and adds more parking spaces as well.
“Adding this is huge for us. We always ran out of parking for any events we had. In the cafeteria, we had to pack students in and have a long extended lunch period,” Dr. Drummond said. “This was really needed and we are just thankful to be growing and to have this opportunity.”
After Superintendent Dr. Eric L. Holland and Dr. Drummond spoke, a large contingent moved outside for the ribbon cutting and photos before getting a tour of West End’s new space. Many people then made the trek across town to East Central Elementary.
“I am incredibly excited to see the completed addition. I loved getting to see the progress throughout the school year. Our teachers have prepared their classrooms and are eager to welcome students on Friday,” East Central Principal Samantha Lindsey said. “I know amazing teaching and learning will take place this year in this new space. We look forward to continuing our motto of Excellence in Everything.”
The new addition for East Central adds five classrooms along with some new restrooms.
“East Central is a place where families want to send their children and that is amazing. The additional space was needed to comfortably serve our students,” Lindsey said. “I am forever grateful for every individual who made this addition possible for our most important stakeholders - our kids.”
After Superintendent Dr. Holland and Lindsey spoke, the crowd moved outside for the ribbon cutting and photos before getting a tour of East Central’s new space. Staff at both schools then returned to their classrooms as both schools also had Meet the Teacher Events on Wednesday afternoon. Rome City Schools kicks off the new school year on Friday, Aug. 2.
