Officials give peek inside new Pope School as construction continues

JACKSON, Tenn. — We have an inside look at the new Pope School as construction continues.

There are many creative parts of this school, however, one of the best ones is the fact that there is a safe area that can fit the entire school in case of a tornado.

In fact, the way it is being built, it can withstand up to an EF5 tornado.

“What that does is allows students, if there’s a tornado, we have lower grades that are close to the safe room,” said District 1 Jackson-Madison County School Board member, James Johnson. “Which is strategic so it’s easier to get the smaller kids on the first floor. Of course the second floor will have the middle school kids.”

This area will also be used by the community during severe weather once it is finished. There was plenty of intentionality when designing this school. It will certainly help the students learn.

“The design of the rooms for those classes are lighted well, so it is good for learning,” Johnson added. “The other thing is the design of the school, as you can see, alludes to learning. There’s lots of space, the classrooms are larger.”

The library has specific study rooms available for students. Johnson tells us that the school will also have room for expansion if needed.

“One of the things that we have that we don’t have at some of the other schools is expansion space. So when we see growth, we will have the opportunity to expand,” Johnson said.

The school will offer Pre-K through 8th grade, and will be able to hold just over 1,200 students.

And the target of having the new Pope School ready for the next school year is still on track. Officials are hoping to allow teachers to start moving into classrooms around July 1.

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