Renovations and Additions to Morristown and Waldron Elementary Schools

In 2020, the Shelby Eastern School Board started strategically planning for what the instructional needs and facility needs of SES would be in 2025 and beyond. The School Board, along with a variety of other stakeholders, identified priorities for facility upgrades that would enhance learning and strengthen or expand our current programming. Along the way, we also identified instructional practices such as Project Based Learning and Trust Based Relational Interventions as practices that should be implemented across the district to modernize our instruction while at the same time modernizing our schools.  

The result of those planning and goal setting efforts is the Envision 2025 project.  The physical additions and renovations focus primarily on the elementary schools at each campus but will greatly impact each community as a whole.  There are several minor components of the project, but the most significant pieces of the project are outlined below.

• Each elementary school will receive a new gymnasium to help with gym and event scheduling, strengthen our current athletic programs, and delve into new programs such as archery and pickleball.  Each gymnasium will be fully capable of hosting athletic events with a seating capacity of 400, restrooms for visitors, locker rooms, and a concession stand.

• The current elementary gymnasiums will be transformed into “Discovery Centers.”  These centers will function both as a traditional library space with shelving for more than 7,000 books and also as a modern STEM lab.  It’s in the the Discovery Center where we will continue to promote STEM and encourage our students to bring their projects to life with modern technology and equipment. 

• Each elementary school will also receive updated floor and wall coverings in all corridors.  If you have visited the elementary schools recently, you know they are due for an upgrade.

• The Morristown campus will benefit from a newly relocated set of tennis courts near the current baseball diamond and concession stand. 

• Morristown Elementary School will receive an additional bank of restrooms as they did not receive the additional bank of restrooms Waldron Elementary School received during the last remodel.

• Both campuses will receive additional parking areas that will more than exceed any spaces that are lost through the gymnasium addition.

This project is a tax neutral project, meaning the overall tax rate of the district will not be increased by the cost of the project.  We are committed to keeping a reasonable and steady tax rate for all of our tax payers.  Groundbreaking will occur in March of 2024, with a total project completion date set for December of 2025.

On behalf of the Shelby Eastern School Board, we want to thank you for your continued support. To download the entire press release, complete with additional renderings, project overviews, and site plans, click the blue button, below.