UPDATED, NEW ARTICLE — January 29, 2016
The Wake County School Board is in the process of constructing a new middle school along Strickland Road, which might affect student assignment plans in the area.
The name, Pine Hollow Middle, was originally decided upon in January. The school was named to reflect the natural features of the area.
Ground was first broken at the site in November. The school plans to open for the 2016-2017 School year, with construction completed by July 2016.
All Leesville kids know that Leesville High School is a massive complex tasked with the education of over 2100 students, accounting for more than 5% of Wake County high school enrollment. Leesville Road Middle School, however has a fewer than 1200 students. That’s one of the reasons Pine Hollow is being built–to counter the threat of overcrowding at Leesville Middle that could arise in the future.
The other reason why the construction of Pine Hollow is a good idea, is that Pine Hollow will operate on a Year-Round schedule. This will give parents who want to get their kids on a year round track a closer option than Durant Road Middle School. In an area which has, in past years, had conflicts over which schools should have which schedules (remember the picket signs?), parents will be able to choose what school their children go to, in turn deciding which schedule they would prefer. This fact, along with the potential to ease crowding, makes Pine Hollow Middle School a worthy venture, even for a county faced with notable budget difficulties.
Exactly how many students from the Leesville area could be reassigned to Pine Hollow remains to be seen, as the school board approves such assignment plans on a yearly basis due to a constant need for growth management in a rapidly-expanding city.
When the plan for the 2015-2016 school year was finalized, only 2 percent of students were impacted–a number that can be expected to rise with Pine Hollows grand opening. Four new elementary schools to be constructed were also given names: Beaver Dam elementary, White Oak elementary, Oak View elementary, and River Bend middle school.
Considering the two school’s close proximity, it would be appropriate that at least some students from Leesville Middle will be reassigned, either at the requests of parents who would like a closer school or by new boundaries set by the 2016-2017 assignment plan.
