The Little Cypress-Mauriceville Consolidated Independent School District has been working to upgrade and renovate all the education facilities in the district for close to two years. Completion of construction on most of the schools will be done before the start of next school year.
Assistant Superintendent Greg Perry with the LC-M School District is overseeing the construction and admitted it took a little while to get started because of a few problems. Once things got going, Perry believes everything is moving along fine, is on schedule, and going as expected.
The Little Cypress-Mauriceville High School on Highway 87 North is having the largest construction of new elements to its campus. The front of the high school now faces east towards Highway 87, and that section was finished up shortly before the Christmas holidays. Also visible from the highway is the new gym which is nearing completion.
The Quadrangle or middle section of the high school campus is less visible to the public, but was almost completely demolished. Perry said the whole section has been filled in with classrooms and roofed over. Students should be attending classes in those rooms by the middle of April this school year.
There is a lot of construction to go for the high school. Perry informs that a new cafeteria and kitchen needs to be built, and a new library will be constructed as well. He predicts still about a year-and-a-half to two years of construction for the high school to be finished.
A few minor things are left for the Little Cypress Junior High on Meeks Drive, but for the most part that facility is completed. The front of that building has also been shifted to face east towards Meeks.
The Middle School in Mauriceville is the equivalent of the Junior High at the other end of the district. It has a new band hall and a new science lab which students moved into the week after Spring Break exciting everyone. The new gym is just about ready as bleachers are being installed as the final step. With new construction just about complete renovation of older sections at the Middle School will begin shortly according to Perry.
Next door to the Middle School is Mauriceville Elementary. A new much larger cafeteria has been added with a beautiful stage for holding school programs and assemblies. The two campuses will share a big new kitchen which has already started serving meals to separate cafeterias for the two schools.
Mauriceville Elementary got several new classrooms. A new choir room and a new science lab were opened to students for classes the week after Spring Break. Renovations will now begin on older parts of the school.
A connecting walkway has been completed between the Little Cypress Elementary and Little Cypress Intermediate campuses making access between the two which share a large parking lot much easier and safer. Improving security has been a top priority for all the schools. Perry indicated the secure entrance area at Little Cypress Intermediate is complete. A new secure front for Little Cypress Elementary is the last scheduled project in the bond program.
Perry advised when the projects are finished residents in the school district both Little Cypress and Mauriceville will be proud of the all the beautiful school facilities in the district. Perry concluded, “Everything except the high school and Little Cypress Elementary should be finished by about the time school starts next year, and then we’ll still have a year-and-a-half to two years really on the other parts.” All the improvements are part of a $56 million bond project.
-Dan Perrine, KOGT-
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