Greater Clark names future elementary schools in Jeffersonville, Charlestown

Jan. 25—CLARK COUNTY — Greater Clark County Schools has officially named the new elementary schools planned for Jeffersonville and Charlestown.

On Tuesday, the Greater Clark school board unanimously approved the names of the two schools to replace four existing buildings in Greater Clark. The new Jeffersonville school will be called Pike Elementary School, and the Charlestown school will be called Charlestown Elementary School.

Karen Wesely, director of elementary education for Greater Clark, presented the new names at Tuesday's meeting. Pike Elementary will replace Wilson and Thomas Jefferson elementary schools in Jeffersonville at the Wilson site.

Charlestown Elementary will replace Jonathan Jennings and Pleasant Ridge elementary schools at the Jonathan Jennings site.

The school board approved plans in 2021 to build the new elementary schools as part of a five-year facility plan. At Tuesday's meeting, Greater Clark Superintendent Mark Laughner presented updates on the planned facility projects.

The district hopes to begin construction for Charlestown Elementary in April and to begin construction for Pike Elementary in August or September, Laughner said.

The goal is for the new elementary schools to open in July of 2025, he said.

The district sought feedback from the school community about the names, mascots and school colors. Wesley said Pike Elementary's name is based on the locations of the existing schools and the future school.

Thomas Jefferson Elementary is at 2710 Hamburg Pike, and Wilson Elementary is at 2915 Charlestown Pike. Both schools have close access to opposite ends of Charlestown Pike/Charlestown-Jeffersonville Pike.

The school colors for Pike Elementary will be crimson red, white, and Carolina blue. The red is a nod to the colors of Wilson Elementary, and the blue is a nod to Thomas Jefferson Elementary.

The school's mascot will be a panther since the two existing schools have large cats as their mascots.

Wesley said the name of Charlestown Elementary was selected through community feedback to maintain consistency with other Greater Clark schools in the city, including Charlestown High School and Charlestown Middle School.

The new school will keep the blue and white colors and pirate mascot used by the existing schools. Pleasant Ridge serves students from preschool to second grade, and Jonathan Jennings serves third to fifth-grade students.

The names of the existing Charlestown elementary schools will continue in the naming of spaces in the new school. Greater Clark is naming the Jonathan Jennings Gymnasium in honor of the first governor of Indiana, and Pleasant Ridge Elementary will honor a historic neighborhood in Charlestown.

"Both of those names are very important to Charlestown citizens and the Charlestown community, so it was decided with that feedback in that process that we would name two of the public spaces in the new school for those two schools and carry that forward," Wesely said.

Greater Clark is completing numerous district-wide renovations and updates as part of its five-year facility plan. In 2022, the school board voted to move forward with projects to replace Parkwood Elementary in Clarksville and build a new swimming facility at Jeffersonville High School.

At Tuesday's meeting, the board voted unanimously to approve an agreement with J. Lake Architecture to conduct the bid process for the two projects and for the district to proceed with a request for proposals for contractors.

Laughner said the hope is for the new Parkwood Elementary and pool facility to open by July of 2026. He expects the board to select a contractor for the projects in March.

"I want to thank the community and also thank the board for being confident to take action on asking for these projects because you're always putting yourself out there a little bit when you're asking for something like this [with] a new pool and new elementary schools," Laughner said. "I'm thankful that the community supports what we're trying to do."