LINN, W.Va. — The first inter-county elementary school in state history opened their doors Thursday morning to greet around 160 students from Lewis and Gilmer counties.
Leading Creek Elementary has a majority of students from Lewis County, but some from Gilmer County as well following the closure of two elementary schools in the respective counties–Alum Bridge in Lewis and Troy Elementary in Gilmer.
“Well, of course, everybody was excited,” Leading Creek Elementary Principal Kim Freeland said. “We have been anticipating this day for a long time. The staff and everybody has worked really hard to get everything ready.”
The school can hold 240 students, but began today with around 160. Freeland said that number will need to go up.
“Our classes are pretty full, especially our second grade through sixth grade,” she said. “They’re all at the max.”
Pre-kindergarten, kindergarten, and first grade had slightly smaller numbers than hoped for, but Freeland said they’ll begin addressing that issue immediately.
Freeland said the first day has been unique for virtually everybody involved.
“On the first day of school, typically teachers know most of the kids because they’ve seen them the past few years,” she said. “But here we’ve got kids coming from two different schools, so there wasn’t that familiarity. Everyone wasn’t familiar with everyone as it is typically.”
“It certainly has had it’s unique aspects,” she said. “I’m dealing with two Boards of Education, and the school itself has it’s own governing board.”
Freeland thinks this could be a viable option for other county school systems that have similar situations near their county lines–particularly in dealing with younger students.
“When there’s only one elementary in a county and it’s located farther away, it could limit the bus ride for students,” she said. “It could allow communities to keep their school in a fairly short distance.”