It's a highly-anticipated moment for the Haughton community. Groundbreaking is set for this week on the new Haughton Middle School.

Bossier Schools Liaison Sonja Bailes tells KEEL News Haughton is one of the fastest-growing communities in Bossier Parish, so there's been a great need for this new school.

"That's why we are building a new Haughton Middle School to accommodate 1,500 students," Bailes said. "It will be our largest middle school in Bossier Parish once it's completed."

The three-story school will be located on LA 3227, near the intersection of Allentown, and it's expected to be ready to open by the fall of 2016. So, what will happen to the old middle school? Bailes tells us there is a plan in place for that.

"Then we will retool the current Haughton Middle School into a K-through-5 elementary school to help alleviate overcrowding at our other elementary schools in Haughton," she said. "So it's really a win-win for the entire community."

Currently, there's no K-5 elementary school in Haughton. T.L. Rhodes serves Pre-K through 1st-grade, Platt is 2nd and 3rd, and Princeton is 4th and 5th. And they all feed into Haughton Middle for 6th, 7th and 8th grade. Bailes said once the new middle school is built, the old one will have to be retooled for a younger group of students. That project is expected to be finished by Fall 2017.

Friday's groundbreaking starts at 1 p.m., rain or shine, and the public is invited to attend. You'll need to park in the bus pick-up area at Haughton High School. From there, you'll be shuttled over to the construction site.

 

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