VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — Virginia Beach is a step closer to replacing its four oldest schools with three new ones.
Thursday night, people gathered in the Bettie F. Williams cafeteria to get a better idea of the plan.
The division will build a brand new Princess Anne High School and Bayside High School. They also plan to combine Bettie F. Williams Elementary School with the Bayside 6th grade campus.
Nicola Smith came to give her input on the early design plan for Williams Elementary and Bayside 6th.
"I think they’ve done a great job in addressing a lot of the needs that this community has," she said. "This district has some very unique needs because you have to think about the socio-economical differences that this building needs to address and then also the neighborhood as it begins to shift and change."
The redevelopment plan is part of a recent agreement between the Virginia Beach School Board and the Virginia Beach City Council as they move to replace four of the oldest schools in the division.
"What spaces are needed to help support 21st century learning. The school we’re in right now is roughly 75 years old and learning was very different then," said Melissa Ingram, the executive director of facilities services with VBCPS.
She said conceptual designs have been approved for Princess Anne and Bayside High School, along with Williams Elementary and Bayside 6th.
She said they’ve gotten a lot of community feedback to make that happen.
"There's really just a lot of pride in the community, a lot of historical components," she said. "Things that they think will help their students to thrive as critical thinkers and future leaders in the community."
Smith said even though she doesn’t have a student in the division anymore, she still wants to do her part for future students.
"I think if there’s only a few people chiming in, I don’t think all students get represented and all needs get addressed," she said. "I think it's so important to have community input in such major decisions that affect not just current students, but also future students that have not even been born yet."
She said her son went to Williams Elementary many years ago. She’s also worked in the division herself.
"We weren’t able to forethink 50, 60 years ago when these buildings were originally built, so I’ve seen a lot of what could happen in schools that we need for the health and wellbeing of the current students, and then how do we think about 20 years from now," Smith said.
Princess Anne and Bayside High will be built on their existing sites, with Princess Anne being built first. When construction starts on each, students will learn at the old Kellam High School.
There are three more community meetings on October 23 at Bayside 6th Grade Campus, October 25 at Princess Anne High School and October 26 at Bayside High School. All run from 6-7:30 p.m.