Nearly six months after opening their doors, the day finally arrived for Sugar Creek Elementary School Principal Cleo Miller to cut the dedication ribbon at the entrance of the brand-new school.

The Thursday morning ceremony included a performance of the school’s new theme song by a student-led chorus. Limestone County Schools Superintendent Dr. Tom Sisk commended several school and county leaders who were integral to the building of Sugar Creek.

A vision for a new, combined school began to take shape about three years ago when Miller, then-principal of Owens Elementary, and the Limestone County School Board recognized that Owens and West Limestone were in ill-repair.

“We realized we needed a new building, and we had property in this area,” Miller said. “This school was just the right thing to do.”

The new school combined Owens and West Limestone Elementary schools into a single building. Construction on the state-of-the-art school wasn’t quite complete when school started in early August, but teachers, parents and support staff came together to make sure that the 600 students from Owens and West Limestone could settle into their classrooms at Sugar Creek.

During his commendation speech, Sisk pointed out that during the first few weeks of school, there were stacks of library books as tall as Mark Yarbrough, the chairman of the Limestone County Commission, in the hallways and that teachers and students had to work around the floor-waxing crews.

“In my 32 years in public education, I have never seen a more dedicated staff,” Sisk said. “Any other faculty would have been challenged to do what this faculty did to get this school open and running.”

Much of the dedication ceremony took place in the school’s giant foyer. This same area served as the school’s gymnasium for several months before construction on the gymnasium was completed.

For the first two months of the school year, the school had no internet or telephone access, a nuisance Sisk said Miller and her staff met with resilience and ingenuity.

“They did an exemplary job of working around the problem, making sure that students continued to learn and progress despite the delay in services,” he said.

What makes Sugar Creek different

Built on the Science, Technology, Engineering and Math model of education, Sugar Creek boasts collaborative spaces for students that foster teamwork and creativity.

“The spaces allow our kids to complete projects based on real-world learning so they can actually see how the things they are doing now will impact their lives as they go into their careers,” Miller said.

Miller added that she plans to observe the STEM programs at other schools and incorporate the best of their ideas at Sugar Creek. By fall 2018, she hopes to have several more STEM opportunities in place at the school.

Another one of the biggest differences between Sugar Creek’s campus and its predecessors is the level of security. Visitors must be buzzed in by someone in the office before entering an air lock lobby equipped with bulletproof glass. The classrooms at Sugar Creek are also equipped with Smart Boards, which offer far more options than the Promethean boards that hung at Owens and West Limestone.

The school’s multipurpose gymnasium not only provides space for P.E. classes, school meetings and booster clubs, it also serves as a community tornado shelter.

At Owens, students would have to go outside in inclement weather to access the underground storm shelter.

Charles Shoulders, president of the school board, summed up the influence Sugar Creek will have on the Lester community.

“What we’ve done here is laid a foundation for something that is going to be good for years to come,” he said. “Long after you and I are gone, generations of children will benefit from this school and the principles on which it was founded.”