Expansion For Two Rome City Elementary Schools Completed

Expansions for West End and East Central Elementary schools were finished over the summer in time for the 2024-25 school year.

Rome City Schools started these expansion projects in the spring of 2023 and were projected to be finished in time for the start of the 2024-25 school year.

The expansion of East Central Elementary created five new classrooms in a single-story building and a new playground.

West End Elementary construction created a two-story addition with eight new classrooms and a cafeteria expansion. West End Elementary also received a new digital sign along Shorter Avenue and a paved 57-space parking lot.

The school system funded these expansions using $14 million from the federal Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief fund, which was essentially split in half for these projects.

Community partners, like the HON Company, donated furniture for West End Elementary, Holland said.

Rome City Schools Superintendent Eric Holland said work on both facilities has been completed, and only minor projects need to be completed before school begins in August.

Construction on the new Rome Middle School, located on Three Rivers Drive across Veterans Memorial Highway from the current campus, is underway. Holland stated in a board meeting on June 27 that the school will be open for the 2025-26 school year.

The current middle school only holds seventh and eighth grades with sixth grade housed in the elementary schools. Sixth grade will move to the new school once it's completed.