Parents of Matoaca Elementary and Matoaca Middle students got their first look this week at a new construction plan that would unite the currently split Matoaca Middle campuses and provide a construction site for a replacement Matoaca Elementary.
“I’m excited to share with the community this new plan, which is efficient in that it not only creates better learning environments for our K-8 students, but it also shows that we are being good stewards of our taxpayers’ investment in public education,” Matoaca District School Board member Rob Thompson said. The proposed plan calls for a new wing to be built onto the current Matoaca Middle East campus. The new wing design would come from the new middle school prototype recently approved by the School Board and would add approximately 30 classrooms and provide space for students currently attending class at the Matoaca Middle West campus. (Matoaca Middle is currently split into an East and West campus, with eighth-graders and the center-based gifted program at the East Campus and sixth- and seventh-graders at the West Campus.)
Once the wing is completed, the two campuses will be consolidated into one school on the existing East Campus site in 2020.
At the same time the wing is being constructed, a replacement Matoaca Elementary will be built on the West Campus site. The new 750-student school, which was overwhelmingly approved as part of the 2013 bond referendum, is projected to open in 2020.
“I’m looking forward to the time when we can finally bring the two Matoaca Middle campuses under one roof, creating instructional and operational efficiencies,”
Thompson said. “In addition, after looking at nearly 40 potential sites to build an elementary school, we finally have a proven site and the opportunity to save costs related to land acquisition, utilities and infrastructure. It’s a win-win for everyone.”
The formal plan will be presented to the entire School Board at an upcoming meeting. A community meeting for substantial accord will be scheduled for later this month.
A presentation about the plan can be viewed on the county’s website. About the 2013 school bond referendum, the Matoaca Elementary construction project is part of the bond referendum overwhelmingly approved by Chesterfield County voters in 2013 that will renovate and/or replace older school facilities in the county.
The projects include the renovation of seven elementary schools, two middle schools and one high school and the construction of a new elementary school. The
Monacan High School renovation project is complete, and the Providence Middle renovation is underway.
Construction is also underway for a replacement Beulah Elementary and a replacement Enon Elementary. Construction on a new Old Hundred Elementary is expected to begin within the next year.
