Claiborne Opens New School
- August 11, 2011
More than 66 teachers spent Monday, August 1, setting up their new classrooms as part of Staff Move-In Day at the newly constructed Claiborne Elementary School. Located at 4707 Denham St., the new building replaces the former school, which was demolished to make room for this new construction. During construction, students and staff were sent to two different school sites. Now the Upper and Lower Claiborne Elementary schools will be merged into one elementary school again. Stephanie Tate is the new principal of the school.
Opening on August 10, the first day of school for East Baton Rouge Parish School System, the $17.2-million school totals 94,698 square feet – enough to house 825 students in grades Pre-K through 5. The two-story facility includes: three Pre-K classrooms, art and music classrooms, a media center, a computer lab and teacher centers on each wing, as well as a cafetorium. Gifted and Talented programs are offered, as well.
To help ease the flow of traffic and to get buses off the narrow streets during school hours, Denham Street has been extended to intersect with North Foster Drive.
Since the voters of East Baton Rouge Parish approved a 1-cent sales tax dedicated to improving public education in 1998, 10 new schools have been built in the district. Claiborne Elementary joins the following new schools in the district that have been built and opened since 2001: Capital Elementary, Capital Middle, McKinley Middle Academic Magnet, Northeast Elementary, Northeast High, Winbourne Elementary, Woodlawn Elementary, Woodlawn High and Woodlawn Middle. In addition, The Dufrocq School underwent a recent major renovation, and renovations currently are underway at Baton Rouge Magnet High School.
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