By Sarah Stephens
Elmore Autauga News
Photos by EAN and Autauga County Schools
If you have wanted the opportunity to visit the new Prattville Kindergarten School, this evening is your chance.
The school will host a community open house from 4:30 to 5:30 p.m. and the public is invited.
This morning a large crowd gathered for the official ribbon cutting for the school. Classes began officially last week, and administrators said there has been a lot of excitement among both staff and children.
Officials present included Senator Clyde Chambliss; State representative Van Smith, Kelvin Lawrence, Jerry Starnes; Prattville Mayor Bill Gillespie: Councilmen Marcus Jackson, Tommie Merrick, Mike Whaley; Autauga County Commission Chairman Jay Thompson; Autauga County School Board Chair Tracye Strichik, board members Kim Crockett and Kyle Glover; and Autauga County Superintendent Lyman Woodfin.
“I feel like I am back home. This is where I started my teaching career at Prattville Kindergarten,” Strichik said. “We are not just celebrating the brick and mortar. We are celebrating the start of a new year, a new class that will go through Autauga County Schools. We know how important kindergarten is. I am so proud of our community for realizing how important kindergarten is and the early childhood years.”
Strichik also pointed out the presence of former Autauga County School board members, who were part of the last board that actually started this process.
She said this year’s kindergarteners are learning in a state of the art school and campus.
PKS Principal Jodi Womble said “The only thing better than this beautiful building are the people who are in it every day, and the community who has rallied around and supported us every step of the way. We have had such an outpouring of community support to get this up and going. They have made it an unbelievable experience with their time, their donations and all of the things they have stepped up to do. It has made us feel so supported.”
Womble told the crowd they are standing in an 87,000 square foot building that offers the very best for our tiniest learnings. There is a STEM lab, auditorium, and stage, our lunchroom are all part of a dream come true, she said.
“I have been able to see the project with everyone in this room from beginning to end. There are a lot of memories in our old building. But we were able to take a lot of the architectural design from our old building and bring it here to carry that forward,” she said. “I cannot wait to see the future of this building and how it impacts all of our students in Autauga County.”
Womble said she never thought she would see this day come, and she is so excited for the kids, staff and future generations to come.
Supt. Woodfin said he could not say enough good things about Mrs. Womble and her staff.
“A lot of the teachers came up here over Christmas break. There are a lot of things that people just don’t see,” Woodfin said.
He also thanked the prior board members who began this process, and former Autauga County Superintendent, the late Tim Tidmore. Woodfin said that this was Tidmore’s dream, and it was unfortunate he could not be present for the ribbon cutting.
“You look around the room and there are so many people here who contributed in some way whether it was support, financial, legislative or community. I came here the other day and Centerpoint Church was here moving boxes. The community effort that has rallied around the school and what we are trying to do in Autauga County School, that is the only way we can move forward. This is a glimpse of what can happen if we are all pulling in the same direction. It is an honor of a lifetime to serve in this roll. It is more of an honor to see what we are doing in our system every single day with our kids. When our families come and this is the first thing they see when they are enrolling in Prattville school, this is a great start.”
With that, the crowd went back out in the cold for the official ribbon cutting photo. Afterwards, Woodfin was kind enough to speak with media present and answer questions.
“The whole construction process and move in process has really highlighted how our community works together,” he said. “Our teachers coming in over Christmas break, and Mrs. Womble, I would hate to know how many hours she has put in. It has been a total team effort, and we are really proud of everyone. I am really excited to see what this school does for us moving forward in terms of community excitement and recruitment of kids.”
He said this project started under former Supt. Tidmore and his board about two years ago. “I was proud to see their vision carried out. We will always be thankful for Mr. Tidmore and the time he put in for our system. It has been an honor and privilege of our current board members, and myself, to carry on that vision. It just goes back to team effort.”
Woodfin said the excitement among the staff and kids has been incredible. He talked about the initial concerns of leaving behind the historic building, but now staff is fired up about the modern conveniences.
“When the decision was made, obviously you had some people upset we were leaving a school we had been in for 100 years. The sentimental value is tough. But then you get into a new building and the creature comforts that we all know now. I was in a faculty meeting and the teachers were like, ‘Hey, we don’t want to leave, but it will be nice to have hot water in our classrooms.’”
Woodfin continued, “It is things like that they have put up with for so many years that are just second nature, and now they are fired up about it. We have a STEM lab now. Things that were just not possible in a building built 100 years ago. Obviously, we hate to leave that building. But this is a new start and a new age for Autauga County and we are excited about the future.
The EAN asked Woodfin about the future of the historic school.
“That is the million-dollar question,” he said with a laugh. “There are no final plans. We are still trying to move out of the building. It does house the technology for our county. As you know, anytime you start talking about moving servers, you are talking about a year long process. There are no hard plans on anything yet. Once we get everything out, we will do a thorough analysis and see if we can use it for things moving forward and make decisions on that.”
The cost of the new building is around $30 million. Woodfin said it is a good investment, and the way the building is designed there is room for future expansion as the population grows. There are currently 32 classrooms, but as Woodfin said, plenty of room for expansion in the future.
