Staff at Byrd Elementary excited about new school
By ROB NOVIT
Senior writer
GRANITEVILLE -- As graduation approached at USC Aiken last spring, senior education major Julie Friday heard about a vacancy at Byrd Elementary School.
She contacted principal Eddie Watkins and four months later she was sorting boxes in her new fifth-grade classroom at the brand-new school Wednesday.
"I didn't know about the new school until later," Friday said, who still seems happily stunned. "I've realized how perfectly things have fallen into place."
The 90,000 square-foot facility is located off Bettis Academy Road, less than five minutes from the old school, built in 1954.
"We're about as high-tech as you can get," Watkins said. "All the classrooms have smartboards and projectors in the ceiling."
The contractor is still finishing up punch list items, but is making progress and Watkins hopes the work will be completed Friday. The teachers sent boxes to the new building in July and began unpacking last week.
The teachers will report for in-school meetings Tuesday, Aug. 12. Student registration is scheduled Thursday, Aug. 14 from noon to 6 p.m. Watkins said the school will be open to the community Friday, Aug. 15 from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Saturday and Sunday, Aug. 16-17, from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. A formal dedication will be announced at a later date.
"This is the best thing I've seen in a long time," said Watkins. "Architecturally, it's well-designed, and they didn't skimp in places where they didn't have to. It's a big change and it's a much more secure facility. The community needed it."
As she begins her 16th year at Byrd, Amy Phibbs is finding the process of moving bittersweet. The old school was comfortable in its familiarity and she knew where everything was. But the faculty and the students needed more room and greater access to technology, Phibbs said. The move has been motivating for her as an "old-timer," as she tossed out some teaching materials and reorganized others.
"This is a transition for the whole town," said Phibbs. "We've moved up in the world. Our cafeteria is amazing and the kitchen is incredible. The children and the parents are going to be very surprised."
Reading Recovery teacher Terri Harris attended Byrd herself, as did older daughters Jena and Lindsey; fifth-grader Morgan will get to spend a year in the new facility. All three girls were (somewhat reluctantly) helping their mom get her new office ready Wednesday.
"I have such wonderful memories of Byrd," Harris said. "It was a good school then and it's a good school now. We're thrilled with the new facility. But it's not the building that makes up Byrd. Whether it's old or new, it's about working with a great group of people. We're like a family."
Julie Friday spent more than a decade in the business world. When she got the chance to teach at a private school for a year, she found her niche and later enrolled at USCA as a non-traditional student.
Getting her education degree at this stage of her life "means so much to me," said Friday. "I cried like a baby at graduation. Now I'm taking a lot of time getting things ready for my students. When you have such a nice environment like this to work in, it makes you feel positive all the way through."
Contact Rob Novit at rnovit@aikenstandard.com.
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