The Henry County Board of Education held their first meeting of the year on January 10. During the meeting, the board approved the site of the district’s future STEM High School. Education SPLOST VI is funding the project.
The district will build the new school in downtown Stockbridge. As part of the project, the county will demolish the existing Patrick Henry High School. In addition, the project will relocate and construct a new gymnasium for Stockbridge Elementary.
STEM High School
The board’s approval allows district staff to move forward with design for the new building. An early concept layout suggests the building will be three stories tall — a first for Henry County Schools. Vehicle access will be off South Lee Street.
The district estimates construction will go out for bid during 2023. Substantial completion is forecast for winter 2024–25. The school is scheduled to open before the 2025–2026 school year. Once open, students from across the county will have the option to attend the new facility.
When complete, the high school will offer advanced coursework unique to the school. Possible opportunities include advanced healthcare classes, biomedical classes and engineering. District staff will visit similar schools in other metro counties to help determine which classes to incorporate into the new building.
There were no financial implications of the project’s site selection since HCS owns the property. The new STEM high school is one of the biggest projects in the education SPLOST VI program.
Featured image shows preliminary layout for new STEM High School. Photo credit Henry County Schools.
