NCS to work with community to evaluate expansion of Career Programs in Bloomfield

The Nelson County Schools is taking another step to evaluate how to better prepare students for success in the 21st century.

In the coming weeks, NCS leaders will begin working closely with community members to develop a larger vision for career programming that would potentially lead to a transition of the Bloomfield Middle School campus. Diesel Technology and Heavy Equipment Operations are two high demand career programs that will be on the table for potential expansion of the UP Center into Bloomfield. 

Exploratory Stages with Community

Superintendent Wes Bradley shared, “Forming this group is a part of an exploratory stage with community partners in Northeast Nelson to ensure long-term growth of the Bloomfield campus. We have the right people in Nelson County to create a powerful place that will be a win-win for students, community, and employers.”

Potential Expansion of Career Programming

The Nelson County Schools has continued to lead the region in career and technical education expansion. NCS recently received a $10,000,000 state grant to provide major upgrades and modernize the Area Technology Center. The district is preparing to break ground in early 2024 on the UP Center in Bardstown. Any plans for a potential Bloomfield Center are in the introductory phase. 

Middle School Equity a Continued Focus

The NCS Board is focused on increasing learning opportunities for all middle school students in the district. The potential transition of Bloomfield Middle School has been a part of that dialogue. Bradley added, “The Bloomfield Middle School staff, along with Old Kentucky Home, New Haven, and Boston staff members work tirelessly to provide more for our middle school students. We are grateful our school teams continue to embrace the big questions of long-term growth and change.” 

No Official Timeline Established 

No formal timeline has been created by the NCS Board on any decisions at this time. Further board discussion will continue in the months to follow. Learn more at NCSLPC.com.

Architects provide glimpse of community campus facilities

The work of architects, school leaders and the local facility design teams come to life next month through architectural renderings depicting the future community campus facilities. In addition to visual representations of the exterior and interiors, the plans also include proposed floor plans.

Thomas Nelson will add a middle school wing that will extend onto a parcel of recently acquired property. The addition will add a whole new curb appeal and greater visibility from KY 245. But it will also allow for a separate middle school entrance and traffic loop.

At Nelson County High School existing space will be remodeled and a new middle school entrance is planned on the opposite side from the existing high school. In addition to the reconfigured classrooms and learning spaces, the facade renovations will allow for more natural lighting.

The architects will present the renderings and discuss more details with the Nelson County Board of Education at its June 7 regularly scheduled meeting.

Design visions for New Haven, Cox’s Creek coming into focus

Architects’ visions for Cox’s Creek Elementary and New Haven School would alter the buildings both inside and out, and late last week they shared a glimpse at just how fresh the new faces could be.

Community centered spaces for students, staff, and families continues to be a common theme. One idea at Cox’s Creek is to unify an expanded outdoor classroom and the main entrance by constructing a courtyard accessible through a reconfigured media center. The concept could include both an outdoor learning area as well as a play area and walking loop.

Architects Jeff Pickett and Nick Passafiume shared drawings with school design committees including a canopy on the front of the building that would improve functionality and support increased accessibility to the gymnasium. 

The change to New Haven’s exterior could be just as dramatic, with a renovated façade and entranceway. That is one of three proposed areas of improvement. Additional features include more windows to improve natural light in the cafeteria as well as classrooms. The media center could be extended into a central courtyard, also providing more natural lighting options. 

“We are still at the very beginning stages of the conversation. The facility design teams at Cox’s Creek and New Haven have provided a lot of good feedback to the architects,” said Wes Bradley, superintendent of Nelson County Schools.

New Haven and Cox’s Creek are part of an historic $52 million investment in the district’s public schools facilities. 

Pickett’s firm was hired for New Haven and Cox’s Creek, and he said they are still in the early phase where architects and local committees are sharing ideas and concepts that could change before plans are set and drawn.

“We are still uncovering and understanding what the school buildings need for their existing conditions,” Pickett said. “Once we get this phase settled, we’ll have a schematic design that everyone will believe in and understand.” 

Pickett said this early stage is important to providing a cohesive vision, and it is off to a good start.

“The synergy in the groups have been really good,” Pickett said. “Everybody's been on the same page in thinking bigger about school design. It's been exciting in that aspect of it. A lot of things we've talked about: flexibility, community identity that goes for both schools and all ideas around that are supported.”

School construction design focuses on student needs

MARCH 16, 2022 — Assessing students’ needs and the future of learning were the focus of early progress in uniting Nelson County’s middle and high schools onto two community campuses.

Since early March, nearly 50 people were involved in the first round of facility design sessions that comprised current and former educators, parents, and staff engaging in conversations with architectural and construction experts about how physical spaces impact student learning. Those design team meetings will continue throughout the site design phase.

On Monday, architects and engineers gathered detailed information about current facilities and future needs with site visits accompanied by district health, technology and nutrition staff. Project leaders visited Cox’s Creek Elementary, New Haven School, Nelson County High School, The Academy and the bus garage about each site’s specific needs.

“These were detailed discussions about the everyday needs of our students and staff,” said Kevin Mattingly, director of facilities. “When you are discussing facilities, especially, you want to look at what our needs are today, but also what needs we will have 10, 20, 30 years from now.” 

Thomas Nelson campus to expand to accommodate Middle School wing

The Nelson County Board of Education Tuesday authorized the purchase of nearly 10 acres of property adjacent to Thomas Nelson High School for the future community campus.

The property lies north of the current campus and fronts Ky. 245. The addition will enable significant benefits over other planning options for uniting middle and high schoolers onto one campus. 

Based on discussion with the Board, an addition would have required replacing current facilities at a significant cost, such as the tennis courts or geothermal field and bus lot. Avoiding those costs shaves an estimated half-million dollars from the projected $16 million project. 

In addition to cost benefits, the expanded campus allows for:

• No permanent relocation of existing amenities, such as school parking and sports facilities.

• Increased flexibility in construction for opportunities for dedicated middle school learning, athletic, and outdoor spaces.  

• Expanded entrances and traffic flow options. 

• Less disruption to current school operations during construction. 

“This option offers the best value for our district, the Nelson County taxpayers, and our students,” Bradley said.

Funding for the $625,000 property will come from funds remaining from prior facility projects. 

Nelson County BOARD commits to world class facilities, with major investment in the future of our students 

FEBRUARY 15, 2022 — Nelson County schools took the first big step Tuesday toward modernizing its facilities as well as how it prepares students for success in the 21st century.

Four major projects were approved for a potential $50 million investment in the future of our community.

The schools and projects authorized by the Nelson County Board of Education were:

• Nelson County Community Campus: $23.8 million 

• Thomas Nelson Community Campus: $14.2 million

• New Haven School Renovation: $6.4 million

• Cox’s Creek Elementary Renovation: $5.2 million

Educators at the schools were excited for the coming improvements, enabled through the recently updated district facilities plan. For some schools, like New Haven, the wait had been a long one.

“Our building has unfortunately not had a lot of updates and students see that. Students see that when we go on field trips, when they drive by other schools, when they play sports in other buildings and on many other occasions,” said Casey Ayers, a teacher at New Haven. “From a teacher standpoint and living in the community, it will make me happy to know we are valued and not ‘last,’ as some may feel.”

Nelson County campus will see the largest single investment. Built in 1969, the high school has portions of the building that have not been renovated in more than three decades.  In the end, we expect the entirety of the Nelson County campus to receive major renovations and redesign. 

“Nelson County High School has always been committed to caring for and educating the students of our community,” said David Sparrow, a longtime teacher and coach who also graduated from the high school. “These renovations will prepare students for success in the 21st century by improving their education and care on our campus.”

Expanded student opportunities

The motivation behind the work includes expanded learning opportunities for all students P-12. This includes a long-term commitment to expanded pre-school access in all of our rural communities along with a major investment in uniting middle school students on the east and west side of Nelson County. 

“For the first time in our history, the Community Campus model will allow middle school students and families to unite together for expanded access in world-class facilities of learning. Unquestionably, this will make a positive impact on our youngest Nelson Countians and our community as a whole in the decades ahead,” Superintendent Wes Bradley said.  These opportunities include expanded course offerings, earlier access to advanced programs, athletics and student leadership. 

Architects, manager hired

These early steps took the form of the Board of Education approving the hiring of the architects and construction manager for the projects. The Board also approved applying for BG-1s for each school, the first step in any building project that includes a general description, initial cost predictions and allows the Kentucky Department of Education to begin tracking the project.

Studio Kremer was selected for the community campus projects and Pickett & Passafiume for both New Haven and Cox’s Creek. Codell Construction Management was selected as the construction manager for all of the projects.

Design process next step

With the BG-1 application filed and architects hired, the vision of what a community campus model will look like will start to take shape. Beginning as early as March, local school design teams will begin to form with architects, teachers, school administrators, and families playing a role in the initial design process.. That design process could last up to 15 months. Construction on some of the projects could be completed as early as August 2024.