Logansport schools eagerly await new intermediate building

Kirsten Adair, Pharos-Tribune, Logansport, Ind.
·4 min read

Sep. 30—As the fall semester continues and students get more comfortable in their new classrooms, both students and staff at Logansport Community School Corporation are gearing up for exciting changes to come next year.

The biggest change will be the corporation's new intermediate school, which is currently being built by Merrillville contractor Skillman Corporation. Work began on the building in June 2021 and has steadily continued over the past year.

"We are still on track to open in January," Logansport Community School Corporation Superintendent Michele Starkey said. "We are hopeful that, come sometime at the end of October or November, we'll be able to get our certificate of occupancy."

Starkey said it has been a busy time for the corporation, but she is excited about the improvements to the district.

"We're finishing up the Fairview construction project too," she said. "We have a lot of really good things going on right now, and it's exciting, but there are also a lot of moving pieces right now. We know that we still have to continue to be flexible."

Starkey said construction crews will start paving the intermediate school within the next week. She added that work is still being done inside the school on things like flooring, finishing on walls, and ceilings.

Students will be able to move into the new building once construction of the intermediate school is completed. The first students to use the school will be sixth graders from Columbia Sixth Grade Academy, which will close after the fall semester this year. The building will be torn down, and Starkey said new parking and bus pickup areas will take priority in that spot.

When students currently at Columbia Sixth Grade Academy return to school after the holidays, they will start the spring semester in the new intermediate building.

"The priority is to get the fifth and sixth grade side done as soon as possible so we can get ready to move in and open up in January," Starkey said.

At the start of the next school year, all fifth graders and sixth graders in the district will be relocated to the new intermediate school. Students below the fifth grade level at Franklin Elementary School will also be relocated to other elementary schools in the district. The corporation will continue to use the Franklin Elementary building, but it will no longer be an elementary school.

Starkey said new teachers who were hired at Franklin Elementary are being surveyed and asked to rank their grade and building preferences. The corporation will use those preferences as well as the teachers' training and qualifications to reassign them within the district.

After the current school year ends, the Franklin Elementary building will house The Academy, an alternative school for students who have health issues, disciplinary problems, become young parents, or struggle to complete school in a traditional classroom setting.

The Academy has three instructors and multiple mentors who help the students with their work. It partners with Four County to provide its students with information about mental health and encourages kids who might otherwise drop out of school to graduate with a high school diploma. The move will allow The Academy to continue to grow.

Once the intermediate school is open, Starkey wants to get the community acquainted with the building by taking students on field trips to visit, hosting a parent night there, and having open houses for the public to see inside.

"Things are moving forward," she said.

Melanie Lang, the current Franklin Elementary School Principal, will move to the new intermediate school next year to oversee the corporation's preschool program. The preschool program is currently scattered throughout different buildings in the corporation but will be moved into its own separate wing of the intermediate school building once it is open.

However, this year Lang just wants to enjoy her last year with the students at Franklin Elementary.

"As principal here at this building this year, we are just going to have the most joyful year ever," she said. "This is our 40th year in this building and it's the last year here. At the same time, (we're) very excited about all of the opportunities that are going to come with next fall and that Logansport intermediate/preschool building."