XENIA — Xenia Community Schools is holding a groundbreaking ceremony to kick off construction of the new Warner Middle School
The ceremony — set for 12 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 8 — will feature speakers from the district and a member of the construction project team from SHP, the project architectural firm. Current leadership students from Warner Middle School, and a few members of the classes of 2030 and 2031 will also participate. The future students will be among the first classes to attend the new facility as sixth and seventh grade students.
“This project has been a long time coming, and we are incredibly excited to see real, physical change start to take place on the site,” said Superintendent Dr. Gabriel Lofton. “We hope the community is as excited as we are about the possibilities for Xenia students that this facility will create, and this event is a great way to commemorate the beginning of this historic project.”
The groundbreaking will take place directly adjacent to Warner Middle School, where the new building will be located. The event is in a covered area and will take place rain or shine.
“The construction fence is in place, and our middle school families are already getting used to the new one-way traffic flow past the building,” Lofton said. “In the coming weeks, they will begin to see movement in the restricted area, as the beginning phase of construction begins this fall.”
The new Warner Middle School is a $45 million investment in the future of Xenia students and the community, according to district officials. The state-of-the-art facility will provide the needed infrastructure for secondary education in Xenia schools, preparing students to chart their path forward into high school and beyond.
Featuring technology built with an eye on the future, the new WMS will accommodate the growing middle school population with flexible learning spaces designed to adapt to the needs of Xenia’s sixth-eighth grade students. To provide a modern, secure, and dynamic center of learning for the 1,000-plus students, the facility includes an academic wing with one floor dedicated to each grade, a multi-purpose student commons area, a regulation gymnasium, and more.
