Published: November 29, 2009 09:26 pm      

Students head for high ground, new school next fall

BRADSHAW — The new River View High School in McDowell County is still on target for completion next March.

Kathy Gentry, the current principal at Iaeger High School, has been selected to serve as the first principal of the new River View High School, according to School Superintendent Suzette Cook.

“Mrs. Gentry has already been in the building,” Cook said. “She’s been coming to the construction meetings every two weeks, and took her first tour of the building.”

Both Big Creek High School and Iaeger High School will close following the current school year. Students will report to the new River View High School next September.

Cook said construction on the new high school remains on schedule.

“Right now they are saying about March,” she said. “That always gives you the rest of the year to work out the kinks. But we don’t have any intention of moving in until the fall.”

The new high school is being constructed along a 17-acre educational campus in Bradshaw. The new Bradshaw Elementary, which opened in September, is located adjacent to the new high school.

Cook said construction work is currently focused on the interior of the new high school.

A new Iaeger Elementary School is still planned for McDowell County as part of the ongoing multi-million dollar flood proofing project between the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the McDowell County Board of Education.

The new Iaeger Elementary School is proposed to be constructed at the site of Iaeger High School.

“The current Iaeger High School is scheduled for demolition as part of the flood (control) project,” Cook said. “Then the Iaeger Elementary will be built in that area. So students will stay at Iaeger Elementary until the new one is finished.”

— Contact Charles Owens at cowens@bdtonline.com