On Thursday, Aug. 8, just over 500 elementary students will start classes at the Beauregard Parish school district’s new dragon den, DeRidder Elementary School.

Construction on the 89,405 sq. ft. campus is nearly complete, and areas conducive to student learning in the first weeks of school are prepped and ready to go, said Beauregard Parish School Board Public Information Officer Kari Ifland.

Ifland gave the American Press a tour of the new campus on Monday, just days before the new school year.

In main hallways flooded with natural light, construction workers installed the final tiles on the floors, conducted paint touch-ups and hung up hallway railings for teachers to place signage. In the cafeteria, DeRidder Elementary teachers were being briefed on procedures for the upcoming school year by Principal P.J. Crowe.

“The classrooms are all ready. They’re ready for students to be here. The teachers are doing their in-service today. Classrooms look great,” Ifland said.

The school features a large gym that doubles as an auditorium, with three basketball hoops, a concession area and a stage for school productions, speakers and events. Each classroom has built-in wood cubbies for students and teachers. Each hallway has a teacher workspace.

Crowe noted the “picturesque windows in the stairwells overlooking the playground, natural lighting throughout the building, expansive library, dedicated STEM lab and classroom and large playground with tiered seating capacity for outdoor gatherings and options for outdoor class activities.”

To keep traffic flowing and off the road in the mornings, they designed a student dropoff with three lanes of traffic that pulls into one lane, Ifland added.

Construction workers have been “working early mornings and late nights” to complete the school.

The building has been approved for beneficial occupancy, and most areas will be ready for students on Thursday. The playground, library and areas of the administrative offices are still being worked on.

BPSB Superintendent Larry Hollie confirmed that the library – which is currently a dedicated staging area – and administrative area are expected to be completed by the end of the month. The playground should be ready for students by mid-fall.

DeRidder Elementary was included in a $29 million Capital Improvement Plan passed by voters in May 2019. The bond issue also included a classroom addition to East Beauregard Elementary, a new cafeteria and administration office at Merryville High School and a new classroom wing at South Beauregard Elementary, all of which have been completed.

The idea for a new school sprouted from the district’s continuous evaluation of “the needs of our school district and the facilities necessary to provide an excellent education” to Beauregard students, said Hollie.

In 2019, it had been 11 years since the board requested a bond issue, and 39 since a new school had been built in DeRidder. K.R. Hanchey was built in 1980, he said.

“Although there had been additions and remodeling to some DeRidder schools in previous bond issues, the board at the time voted to include a new school in DeRidder to accommodate the needs of the district and the community.”

In September 2022, the Beauregard Parish School Board awarded a $24,940,000 bid to Ratcliff Construction, LLC. to build the school.

Hollie said that after years of work (and a commitment to improving facilities throughout the parish) BPSB is excited to be in the final stages of completing the projects included in the bond project.

“We have worked diligently and consistently since the approval of the bond to complete these needed projects for our school district, COVID and hurricane disruptions notwithstanding.

“As we open DeRidder Elementary for the 2024-2025 school year, we are opening a new chapter for the students in DeRidder and the community at large,” he said. “We are excited to see what the future holds.”

DeRidder Elementary will house second, third and fourth grade students. Pre-K, kindergarten and first-grade students will continue to attend K.R. Hanchey, and fifth and sixth-grade students will attend Pine Wood Elementary.