THE FIRST SHALL BE THE LAST

Elkmont is the oldest school in the Limestone County School System.  It was established in 1912 and has served our community for over 100 years. 

Talk about building a new elementary school for the Hilltop has been around for at least 20 years.  The land where it was to be built is across from the Pig. As time has slipped by, the new school has always been pushed down the list so other communities would receive the needed funds.  There are now indications that the new school may always be in the Twilight Zone.  Never to be built, only to exist in the imagination.

Limestone County Schools Superintendent Tom Sisk has provided another piece of the puzzle called "What About Elkmont?" One of his long-term goals is to break up the remaining K-12 schools in Limestone County. The only ones left are West Limestone, Tanner and Elkmont. Ardmore, Clements and East Limestone have already been switched.  East Limestone has Creekside, Ardmore got Cedar Hill, and Clements has Blue Springs.

West is getting a new $15,191,800 school called Sugar Creek Elementary. Sugar Creek is scheduled to open by the 2017-18. Sisk said,Tanner already has its own building on campus that already functions independently from the main school. Plans are in the works to build a dedicated administration suite for the elementary building to create Tanner Elementary School.

What about Elkmont?

Though it's not in the immediate future, splitting the K-12 facility is next on the list. The plan is similar to the one taking place at Tanner — an Elkmont Elementary School will be established with its own administration and identity. The building is separate from the main school already and has its own administrative suite, but there will be some “investment” made into the Elkmont Elementary campus, Sisk said.  

"Some investment made".... Hill Spirit reads this to mean that the new elementary school is gone, not to be built.  Sorry folks, as it stands now, the first school in the county is now the last. It's too bad...Elkmont is a wonderful community to raise children. However, young families move to where the new schools are, not the recycled - even the well-loved, maintained one. The growth(money) in the county will be directed elsewhere.

Athens New Courier Article
*the Elkmont/Piney Chapel plan of 15 years ago has been transformed into the West/Owens plan