By Ryan Palencer
AVON — More and more homes being built in Avon, means more and more students for the local school corporation.
The Avon Community School Corporation saw its enrollment rise from 3,417 in five schools in the 1993-94 school year to 4,835 in seven schools during the 1999-2000 school year.
To keep up with the growth, ACSC opened Pine Tree Elementary School in 1989, Sycamore Elementary School in ‘95, and built a new high school in ‘99.
“The board at that time faced a really pivotal mark in time,” Superintendent Tim Ogle said. “It was very bold and took lots of planning (to build the high school). I’m told they had a hundred meetings in the planning process. They did a wonderful job building consensus in the community. That decision turned out to be wonderful for this community. It was financially prudent and educationally sound.”
The high school campus has been planned to hold 3,200 students, which includes 800 in the Advanced Learning Center — set to open in 2010.
“The high school program is state-of-the-art in every aspect,” Ogle said. “Obviously, between 80 and 85 percent of our students go on to college, so our college preparation program is outstanding. Our advanced placement program has grown to be regionally renowned. We have outstanding performing arts ... We just thrive on the fact that in a comprehensive suburban high school, every door should open for young adults.”
When the high school relocated to its new digs, the middle school moved to the building that was vacated. That building is now known as Avon Middle School South. The Avon Intermediate School was developed in what was once the middle school building.
But the school corporation’s growth didn’t start in the 1990s. Hickory Elementary School was added in 2002, followed by Avon Intermediate West in ‘05, Cedar Elementary in ‘07, and Avon Middle School North in ‘09. There have also been two addition in the high school in ‘07 and one that is underway; additions to Avon Middle School South in ‘04 and ‘09; and additions to Maple Elementary and White Oak Elementary in ‘09. River Birch Elementary is scheduled to open in 2010.
Ogle said it’s been a struggle, but the school corporation has caught up to the growth — at least for the time being. During the 2008-09 school year, Avon had an enrollment of 8,380 students.
“We have spent a lot of time and energy with strategic planning as a school corporation,” Ogle said. “We really started aggressively years ago, but with the current state of affairs, we started looking really seriously in 2005. That’s the time in which, at well over 50 public community meetings, we talked about long-term facility planning. We talked about opportunity for our kids in the foreseeable future.”
It was the consensus of the community, he said, to develop and implement a plan for the long-term, rather than continuing with asking for financial support annually.
“In late 2005, we decided to build the Advanced Learning Center, build Avon Middle School North, and build River Birch Elementary,” Ogle said. “This was all with one financing project, so to speak. As time has played out, that turned out to be a very fortunate and fruitful decision.”
The school system avoided the wrath of the current tough economic times, he said, by supplying state-of-the-art facilities at 2005 prices.
“Interest rates were extremely low then,” Ogle said. “The construction environment was extremely favorable. This school corporation and community will reap tremendous educational benefits and tremendous financial benefits for years to come.”
Consistency has also paid off for the Avon community.
“We have now built five new elementary schools with the same basic architectural design,” Ogle said. “We have saved tremendous amounts of design fees by reconstructing the same footprint five times. They’re all beautiful buildings in their own right. We make them characteristically different by using color and interior decorating strategies.”
For more information about Avon schools, visit the website at www.avon-schools.org.
ryan.palencer@flyergroup.com
