Candy's Creek Cherokee Elementary celebrates major expansion milestone

From Local 3 News: Candy’s Creek Cherokee Elementary School in Cleveland is celebrating a significant milestone with the completion of its long-awaited expansion. The newly renovated facility promises to enhance the learning environment for students, faculty, and staff alike.

The school held a special ribbon-cutting ceremony to mark the completion of six brand-new classrooms.

The event was attended by students, teachers, city council members, and school board officials, all of whom joined together in celebrating the expanded space.

Sara Whitener, the principal of Candy’s Creek Cherokee Elementary, expressed excitement about the added space, emphasizing how important this expansion is for both students and teachers. "Right now, we have several classes that are either combined into the same, or they're not in the space that they need to be. So we look forward to putting classes back into classrooms where they need to go," she said.

Whitener explained that since the school opened in 2019, the student body has steadily grown, making the expansion an essential step in maintaining an optimal learning environment. "Our goal is small class sizes. We know that our teachers can better meet the needs of our students when there are smaller numbers of students within our classrooms, so hopefully, these six new classrooms will help with that process," she added.

The expansion wouldn't have been possible without the support of the Cleveland City Council and the School Board, who recognized the rapid growth of the elementary school. Their efforts, along with contributions from the broader community, helped to bring the project to life.

Dr. Jeff Elliott, Director of Cleveland City Schools, spoke about the broader vision for the district. "Now that we've opened this, it's time to continue to look at the growth in the other areas of Cleveland, Tennessee, and what are we going to do to be ready for our students of the future," he shared.

With the new classrooms now complete, they are set to welcome students and staff for the upcoming fall semester. This expansion is expected to support the school's continued growth and provide a better learning experience for its ever-expanding student body.