The Fayette County Board of Education gathered Thursday morning to attend the groundbreaking ceremony of the school system’s latest project, Inman Elementary School.

“We’re real excited about this,” Superintendent John DeCotis said. “We’re happy it’s going along so well. We’re looking forward to seeing the campus open in the near future.”

The 96,000-square-foot school for grades kindergarten through 5 is scheduled to open in fall 2008, according to DeCotis. The school is part of the $2 million bond referendum approved by voters in November 2004, and it is listed as a prototype school design with the Georgia Department of Education.

The school has many features: residentially inspired aesthetics using a brick exterior with pitched standing seam metal roof; a central courtyard design that allows natural daylight to flood into every classroom, 43 total; and it accommodates 675 students through grades K-5 with state-of-the-art technology retrieval systems and direct digital building systems automation.

Inman will have seven classrooms each for students in kindergarten and first grade; five each for second- and third-graders; and four each for fourth- and fifth-graders. It also includes eight classrooms for special education, two for computer labs, one each for art, music, physical education, a media center and a multipurpose room.

The school is being created to accommodate the county’s growth.

“We’re trying to be proactive in the construction of our facilities,” DeCotis said. “We’re hoping this school and the other school (a yet-to-be-named elementary school being built in the northern part of the county) get us through the next several years.”

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