250th Anniversary Celebration Facts: School News past and present
250th Anniversary Celebration Facts, Schools are always news
Botetourt is going through some decision making on public school re-opening due to covid-19, so this week we look at a bit of past and present school facts and add to information already shared.
There are 7 Elementary Schools: Cloverdale, Buchanan, Breckinridge, Eagle Rock, Colonial, Troutville and Greenfield that house pk, K-5th grades. There are two Middle Schools: Central Academy and Read Mountain. There are two high Schools James River and Lord Botetourt.
Botetourt Technical Education Center serves the entire high school community.
In the early days just about every small community in the county had a one room school. A building still in use of such a school, is Lauderdale School on Wheatland Road in Buchanan. Today the school houses the Mennonite private school.
African American schools were separate and local historian Judy Barnett said “There were 23 community schools.” The whole of these school histories compiled by Barnett and her late brother, Eddie are housed at The Botetourt County History Museum in Fincastle.
Later on during the 20th Century primary schools and high schools were built. High School became a state mandate around 1906. For example, the soon to be decommissioned Colonial School housed the entire grades 1-12. The communities of Eagle Rock, Troutville, Fincastle, Cloverdale, Buchanan and Asbury School were local schools with a primary school, some of them in a separate building and a high school. An example to see today is the Troutville School on Rt 11 now hosting an auction house and home décor shop as well as an apartment. The days of local community rivalry were particularly exciting in high school sports like basketball and baseball.
In 1959 three schools opened at once. Two high schools, James River and Lord Botetourt and one Central Academy School for all grades of African American students just prior to desegregation. When schools integrated in the fall of 1966, plans brought the building into the first middle school that served all of Botetourt County. The school was renamed Botetourt Intermediate, then William Clark and after public engagement, it was named Central Academy once again.
The oldest school is Colonial built in 1939 followed by Breckinridge in 1951 and Cloverdale 1952. The last school to be constructed was Greenfield Elementary in 1999. A new 25 million-dollar school in under construction and will be called Colonial Elementary as well. It is projected to open this school year.
Before the Covid-19 shut down, Botetourt County had over 4,600 students enrolled. The school division remains one of the largest employers in the county counting teachers, administrators, and associated staff, as well as bus drivers, maintenance and cafeteria staff. The total Division budget is over 59 million dollars.
Five members publicly elected from the five magisterial districts work to keep the school division moving forward with the school administration. Dr. Jonathan Russ is the new School Superintendent. Dr. Janet Womack is the Assistant Superintendent for instruction. The School Board members are Buchanan, Michelle Crook, Fincastle, Dana McCaleb, Amsterdam, Anna Weddle, Blue Ridge, Matt East and Valley, Tim Davidick. Crook serves as Chairwoman and Weddle as Vice Chair.
The division also house a Botetourt County Public School division Central Office building, a bus garage and other assorted smaller buildings. You may not know this, but they lease the little building near Central Academy 9off Poor Farm Road) to the League of Animal Protection. The School Budget is over 55 million dollars and is encompassed in the Botetourt County Budget.
No matter what happens with schools this year due to Covid-19 and we hope for the best possible outcome, previously several school rating sites including Digger, Public School Review and Niche give the division high ratings. These sites say we have a good school division, don’t forget it due to the stress of the current situation.
–Cathy Benson, The Botetourt Bee
