The end of an era
<p>The last class to ever be housed in Wildhorse Elementary School sit in front of the building on the last day of school. </p>
PLAINS – After almost 80 years of service, the Wildhorse Elementary School not only shut its doors on the school year, but it closed them for good.
On Friday, May 23, approximately 50 students left the building excited for summer. One thing the students probably did not comprehend was that they were closing the doors on a long chapter of the town’s history.
Next year the school will sit empty and all of the students will be on one campus together, a project that’s been in the works for close to 50 years.
The elementary school, originally built in 1938, sits where the main campus of the Plains Public Schools once was. As the only remaining building, the school has outlasted the test of time.
Although some nostalgia is attached to the building, Plains Superintendent Thom Chisholm said it was a great sense of relief knowing that everyone will now be on the same campus.
The current school expansion is well underway and the building is on schedule to be completed before the new school year. The expansion will now house kindergartners through second graders, as well as a the K-2 title classroom, the elementary counselor and title 1 services.
The flow of the campus is being reorganized so that the younger kids are in the new building. The kids will increase in age the further away they are from the expansion.
Chisholm has been a big advocate for the project and is looking forward to the completion of the project.
“I read an article about someone talking about manufacturing in the United States and they said they don’t build them like they used to. The truth is they don’t; they actually build them better,” Chisholm said. “Somebody had to take a chance on us somewhere. We have to do the same thing and go forward.”
The combined campus will provide the kids with equal educational opportunities, ensuring that each student receives the level of education they deserve. Chisholm will not miss the negative connotations with the split campus. As always, he said the new changes are geared to help the students and to further improve their achievement.
“The old nostalgic building will never equate to having everyone here and on the same level, with the same opportunities and the same chances for success,” Chisholm said.
Although plans have not progressed, the school would like to eventually sell the building. Chisholm said they had a variety of options and can either outright sell the property or re-lease it. The district has yet to get that far, but the ultimate goal is to get rid of it.
“Eventually I would rather the district not be encumbered by it,” Chisholm said.
As the school closed its doors, it concluded the end of an era. Once summer is complete, both students and teachers can look forward to a place where they will all be one – one unified campus for all to utilize.