Dozens of parents brought their young children to a groundbreaking ceremony Thursday afternoon (April 28) to mark the start of construction on an addition to Telegraph Intermediate School, 1265 Dooling Hollow Road, in the Jefferson R-7 School District.
“Good turnout,” said Drew Null, president of the R-7 Board of Education. “Nice to see all the kids here who are going to come into the (preschool) program.”
The addition will house the district’s preschool program and will include four classrooms and a multipurpose room.
At the groundbreaking, preschoolers were provided plastic hard hats and shovels, and the young diggers did not seem to want to stop turning dirt.
Superintendent Clint Johnston said he appreciated the youngsters’ enthusiasm and the interest from the community members who attended.
“Awesome – great turnout,” he said. “The weather cooperated.”
Telegraph Intermediate Principal Tina Basler said her building will welcome the district preschool, which currently is housed at Plattin Primary.
“This will potentially add 100 students in preschool to our building,” Basler said. “The preschool at Plattin has 60. There’s a lot of excitement here. We’re excited it’s going to provide our families a full-day program to better prepare our students for their futures.”
The district’s current preschool program only offers half-day programs. Full-day and half-day programs both will be available when the new addition opens, Basler said.
Johnston said construction is expected to begin around May 16 and the target for completion is Dec. 31.
The project will cost an estimated $1.2 million to $1.4 million and will be funded with revenue from a $12.5 million bond issue approved by voters in April 2015.
Pinnacle Contracting of St. Louis is the project’s general contractor.
Johnston said district officials have tentatively scheduled a groundbreaking ceremony for 5:30 p.m. May 9 for a performing arts center to be built at Jefferson High School. That center will have 640 to 650 seats, and the project will cost an estimated 4.5 million to $5 million, also to be funded with revenue from the bond issue.