PINE BLUFF, Ark. — For the first time in almost 50 years, Pine Bluff High School is undergoing renovations. Over the next two years, the district expects to build a brand-new school. But first, the planned temporary campus needs renovations before classes can begin there.
The city passed a millage for the new school last year, and starting this summer, the district is preparing to put those multi-million dollar plans into action.
"We are excited about the changes coming here at Pine Bluff High School," Pine Bluff Principal Ronnieus Thompson said. Our students are the best, so they deserve the best. It just helps intrinsic motivation. It helps teaching and learning. It helps everything with school."
However, to make room for the new, Pine Bluff Superintendent Jennifer Barbaree said students will be temporarily moved to the former Jack Robey Junior High building, which closed last year.
Barbaree said they expect to house students at the temporary campus for the next two years while the new high school is built.
"To move students back to Jack Robey, some renovations will need to be done," Barbaree said. We're working to do that."
In February, the Pine Bluff School District voted on a new academic calendar that will give students longer breaks throughout the year and a shorter summer break. That new academic calendar leaves less time to make the needed renovations to the Jack Robey building.
"It makes it where the work needs to go very quickly," Barbaree said. "That was why it was very important to go ahead and move forward at the board meeting where the board voted to put out for bid some different construction work at Jack Roby."
And while some students have mixed feelings about the return, teachers like Calvin Thompson are in it for the long haul.
"The students and talking with them [because] they came from Jack Robey," Calvin Thompson said. "With them having to go back, they're not excited about the move at all... but to make room for the new high school, we're very excited about the move."
The Pine Bluff school district said it's all for the kids.
"Investing in education shows the students that we care about them," Ronnieus Thompson said. "We want them to have the absolute best."
While Jack Robey may be a little smaller than the current high school campus, Ronnieus Thompson expects to have more than enough room, given the current PBHS enrollment numbers.