Ariton School breaks ground on $4 million addition/renovation project

DALE COUNTY, Ala. (WDHN) — New classrooms, a band room, and a bigger cafeteria will soon be on the campus of Ariton School in Dale County.

Officials broke ground on the $4 million project on Tuesday surrounded by members of the community, SGA members, pageant queens, and band members.

“I have been in the band since the beginning and coming from the fact that we started in a normal-sized classroom, moving up we are all grateful for it,” 11th grader at Ariton, Kassi Carnely said. “It’s a great opportunity for all of us.”

Ariton School is a Pre-K through 12th-grade school that has gone from 300 students to nearly 900 over the last 30 years. T classrooms are filled, the band currently practices in the old gymnasium, and the cafeteria cannot hold events they would like to or accommodate the whole student body.

“Well you know we try to do the best we can with all of our kids, from the ones that need the extra help to the ones that are excelling already,” Principal at Ariton School, Josh Herring said. “Right now, some of the intervention classes and some of the places we are teaching out of are closets, electrical rooms, or things of that nature. We don’t have the things built for the actual instruction that needs to be taking place, so with this expansion and having extra room we believe those teachers will be that much better than they are now.”

The new project will bring four classrooms, a bigger, newly renovated cafeteria, and a band room to the home of the Purple Cats.

Herring says that the project should be completed by March or April 2025.

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