NORTH AUGUSTA --- Down an unlined road on the southern end of Edgefield County, the red-roofed new facility for Fox Creek High School is finally starting to take shape.
To any other school district, it's just a school upgrade. For Fox Creek, the construction is the result of 30 years of parents' hopes and dreams. It's also adding respect and legitimacy to a charter school program, according to students.
The Merriwether community is more than an hour's bus ride to Strom Thurmond High School, the only public school option in Edgefield County. Parents in the area began pushing for an additional high school in the 1970s, but Edgefield County's small tax base couldn't support another school, board member Jim Oliver said. Opposition to change also provided a roadblock.
"Any time you want a progressive change for an area, it's hard," Mr. Oliver said. "People didn't want another private school like Wardlaw."
In 2004, parents yearning for a closer choice for their children launched Fox Creek with 13 teachers and about 100 pupils in a renovated 22-room video poker casino a quarter-mile north of Interstate 20.
"People looked at us with a microscope, and rightly they should," Mr. Oliver said about the school's first year.
Earlier this year, the Edgefield County school district renewed the school's charter for an additional 10 years.
Principal Tim Murph's excitement about the new building on Shortcut Road is almost too much for him to put into words.
Twice the classroom space, a library, science labs made for experiments, even automatic bell schedules and timers for lights get Dr. Murph worked up. He especially appreciates the new school marquee.
"Having a marquee that doesn't take two hours to change won't be a hassle," he said. "Now I can do it from my own home."
Classrooms and administrative offices are the first of three phases for the $5.9 million endeavor. The second phase on the 64-acre lot will be completed over the next two years and includes a gymnasium/auditorium and football field. The finished plan calls for softball, baseball and soccer fields and outdoor tennis and basketball courts.
Mr. Oliver, also a parent of a Fox Creek alumna, said the new school will be like moving into a Hilton compared with the cramped space being used now.
"This time next year they'll wonder how we ever did without," he said.
Members of the class of 2009 said they're somewhat disappointed they won't get to experience at least one year in the new school, something they were promised. But they're excited about better opportunities for new students.
Underclassmen are ready to take on the challenge of establishing a new legacy.
"Being here isn't always a real school atmosphere," said junior Zack Buchanan, 17.
He said things such as limited parking, no room for athletic practice fields and the small front office/mail room create a certain mind-set and don't always provide the best learning environment. Current classrooms are 480 square feet, and the new ones will be 800 square feet.
"I'm happy to get away from that," Zack said.
The building's history also inspires a lot of jokes and sometimes undermines what Fox Creek is about, said senior Johanna Jacobs, 17.
"People use that against us all the time," she said. "This is kind of like a new start."
Mr. Oliver said his daughter, now at college, already misses the intimacy of the old building.
That intimacy appealed to Spanish teacher Amanda Schneider when she agreed to join the startup, something she's glad to see pay off in such a short time. She's one of three teachers from the original staff still on at the school.
"When you work so hard to build something, you don't want to let it go," she said.
The responsibility of building academic and athletic programs from scratch also offers rewards, Dr. Murph said.
"Other principals may go to work at a school, but we're building a school," he said.
A U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development loan will pay for the construction, which is touted as the first traditional school building for a charter school in the state.
Dr. Murph and teachers hope to keep the small, private school atmosphere intact. Enrollment isn't expected to move much, from 313 in 2008-09 to maybe 340 for next year, Dr. Murph said.
The facility will be ready for teachers in July and for administrators to make the switch in August. The Martintown Road facility will remain under lease at least through August.
"We'll look back at the old building and realize that it was just a phase in the life of the school," Mr. Oliver said.
Reach Julia Sellers at (706) 823-3424 or julia.sellers@augustachronicle.com.
SCHOOL TIMELINE
Aug. 5, 2004 -- Opening day of Fox Creek High School with less than 135 students in grades 9-11. There are 13 teachers and John Gratop is the only administrator.
Sept. 2004 -- Parents elect a 12-member board of directors
Fall 2005 -- Adds first mobile classroom for expanding student enrollment
August 25, 2005 -- First football team plays in first game against Dawson Street from LaGrange, Ga. Fox Creek loses 60-0.
Spring 2005 -- Nancy Cowart named first FCHS teacher of the year
Summer 2006 -- Joins the South Carolina High School League to compete in Class A sports
Fall 2006 -- Adds three Advanced Placement classes
Aug. 25, 2006 -- Football team wins first game against Southside Christian 28-22 in three over times.
Winter 2005 -- Earns first grant from the Monsanto Fund for $2,500 for science classes
Fall 2006 -- Volleyball team earns first region championship
Fall 2006 -- Swim team earns first state title
May 2006 -- Sixteen students are part of the first graduating class. Joseph Wagner is named valedictorian.
Fall 2007 -- David Bell is first Golden Apple award winner
Fall 2007 -- Band classes start
Fall 2007 -- Earns an Excellent rating on the state school report card
Spring 2007 -- First bus is purchased
Spring 2007 -- Hannah Ward earns first full academic scholarship to Presbyterian College
Spring 2008 -- Brittany Gobat earns first full athletic scholarship to Georgia Tech
Spring 2008 -- Softball wins first district championship
April 2008 -- Amanda Schneider is selected first Time to Care award winner
June 2008 -- Edgefield Planning Commission approves plans for new school
February 2009 -- Ground-breaking ceremony for the new school
Spring 2009 -- Charter is re-approved for 10 years
August 2009 -- Fox Creek High School officially opens
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The reason the powers-that-be fought the new school was to maintain the sports program level at Strom'. The hour long bus ride to the other side of the county every morning, and the same in the afternoon, was hard on the kids. Many parents of the Merriwether area still wouldn't send their children to Fox Creek because of the history of the buildings. Now that the school has "proper" buildings, I wouldn't be surprised to see it double in size during it's second year.
The school will not grow; the majority on the Community still doesn’t support it. It has nothing to do with the building. The board there is a joke. A large percentage of the students are not even from the County. There is very little Public about the School. We live in a county that is 48/52 White/Black. Fox Creek doesn’t reflect the population of the Community. The number of blacks can be counted on your hands. The State and County should not support this not so public school. IF they wanted a private School the minority in the Community should have to pay the bill.
And since when is 35 Minutes a hour.
They left something out of the "news" stories like all the kids that get arrested for drugs, the students at FC causing tens of thousands of dollars in damages over and over again, vandilized cars just about every other week. There is more crime at this school than all school in EC conbined!!!
Way to go FC!!! That's why EC hates you!
If you are picked up on the school bus you have to ride until all the kids are picked up. That is why it is an hour long bus ride. I went to Strom Thurmond and hated that bus ride. I lived only about 1 mile from where they are building that new school. I was the first one on the bus in the morning and the last one off in the afternoon. Got on the bus at 6:30 am and did not get home until 4:30 pm. When I got my license I started driving to school so then it was only 35 min. More power to the new school, I only wish it was there when I was in high school so long ago.
That kind of crime happened at Strom Thurmond too!!!
Yeah, somebody at STH gets locked up about every 3 months. FC is every WEEK!!!!
Simp in Aiken County students get on the bus @ 5:45 and get to school at 7:15. There are students in Johnston that live 2 miles from Johnston Elemenatary that still ride 45 mintues in a Bus. THAT IS PART OF RIDING A BUS. Fox Creek has no buses now, it still takes 35 Mins to ride from Merrriweather to Strom Thurmond. I wish this story had ran on a weekday. It would of had 45 comments by now
Why are their only three of the orginal staff left, Because many were tired of not being safe, the Admin not having a backbone, and board's Children running the School. Wake Up Merriwether don't harm your child education by sending them to a Joke of a School.
The first student to earn a scholarship to PC was Anna Wade. We had no student named Hannah Ward.
I find it very sad that Murph needs two other admins to help him when John Gratop did it all himself! I also find it sad that there are STILL teachers there that are NOT certified!
What is wrong with this picture? Someday it will change, hopefully the Bishops will not run things anymore and Murph will be ousted, then perhaps the person that REALLY does the work (Trahan) can run the school as an admin that actually really cares about the students would!
I had two children at FC and pulled them both out. One is in college now! I would love to see the drop out rate for FCHS! Even though the new school is under 1/2 mile from my house my other kids will not be going there unless things change drastically! Good luck FCHS!!!!
Spoken by a bitter parent of 2 kids who never showed up for school. And Gratop had Aadland.