Welcome Cobras: Parents, students get first look at new Kirkwood Middle School during open house
Hundreds of families entered the brand-new Kirkwood Middle School Friday for a chance to view the facilities and meet teachers ahead of a new school year.
The sprawling campus will include three buildings off Rossview Road when complete. The middle school is the first to open for Clarksville-Montgomery County Schools.
It's capable of holding 1,200 students, with the ability to expand for an additional 300.
For Lorneth Peters, it was important to take advantage of the tour as her son will begin seventh grade classes during Monday's half-day opening.
"We're so excited," Peters said with her son Elijah as the two walked through the building. "It has been a long time coming. It is just exciting to have our students (get) a new place to come, a new place to call their own."
The most important thing Peters said she wanted to see Friday was a new culture of excitement created with the opening of a new school. It didn't disappoint, she said.
The building isn't bad to look at, either, as it takes similar plans from West Creek Middle School drawings with added touches.
One of the unique features is the band room, which schools spokesman Anthony Johnson said was designed specifically with the help of band leadership. It features acoustic panels on a non-perpendicular shape.
Randy Viray and his family particularly interested in the band room.
Viray's 13-year-old son Jacob said he was excited to start playing his clarinet there, after picking up the instrument last year at Rossview Middle School.
"I think it's great, definitely happy we got rezoned here," Randy Viray said.
His son agreed.
"It has a better atmosphere than my last one, that was just another classroom," Jacob said.
Kirkwood's mascot will be the Cobras, and the school colors are blue and orange.
Johnson said an advisory board, made up of students, staff and community members, voted on the name Cobras. He also noted that no two schools within the district share the same color scheme.
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CMCSS's Gene Fish, operations manager for special projects, said the school, like 29 others in the district, were outfitted with LED lights instead of classic halogen lights. He said each light gives the district a 66% savings on energy costs, compared to halogen lights.
He said the lights have around a 20-year shelf life before they must be replaced.
Reach reporter Craig Shoup by email at cshoup@gannett.com and on Twitter @Craig_Shoup. To support his work, sign up for a digital subscription to TheLeafChronicle.com.
This article originally appeared on Clarksville Leaf-Chronicle: Kirkwood Middle School students, parents get first look at new school
