LEXINGTON, Ky. (LEX 18) — This morning Fayette County's newest elementary school opened its doors to its teachers for the first time.
With Wednesday being the first day of school and the to-do lists running long, teachers had a few extra hands from young volunteers at Brenda Cowan Elementary. This morning, local soccer players did some of the heavy lifting as teachers entered their classrooms.
Although construction is still in progress in a few parts of the building, the principal says the necessary classrooms are ready to go.
"This building was built for 750. We're going to start with roughly 500 kids and so we're going to put our kids all in the intermediate hallway and then they're going to finish the primary wing," explained principal Josh Williams.
A few highlights of the new building include mobile, colorful furniture, a dry erase horseshoe table in every classroom as well as a restaurant style lunchroom with booths.
Because this is a brand new school, students are coming from all over town. Principal Williams says it's his goal to create a culture of community so that every student, parent and teacher feels a part of this new, vibrant community-which he says was inspired by fallen hero firefighter Brenda Cowan herself.
"Brenda Cowan really cared about students. She really cared about community. She was very positive, she always smiled. One of the unique quotes that I heard from Brenda Cowan was "I'm just an ordinary person doing an extraordinary job," said Principal Williams.
He hopes that his staff will embody Cowan's philosophy when the bell rings on Wednesday.
