The Demopolis City Schools System is showing multiple signs of growth, from the recent addition to Westside Elementary, to the nearly-complete addition at Demopolis High School, to the new athletic complex on the way at DHS. In this week’s Question & Answer, Dr. Isaac Espy talks about the additions going on at the high school.
Q: What does the addition at the high school consist of?

A: The addition to the main building at the high school has four classrooms, a male and female student restroom, two teacher workrooms/break rooms with restrooms, and 112 student lockers.

Q: What does this addition mean to Demopolis High School?

A: The main thing is it gives us breathing room. We’ve had four of five teachers who have been teaching in six different classrooms throughout the day. They’d go in when that teacher took their planning period and teach then. That really places unnecessary stress on our teachers with them having to lug a cart with belongings from room to room. With these four new rooms, we’ll have a “home” for all of our teachers now.

Q: When is the addition scheduled to be complete?

A: Any day now. I’m not sure who’s more anxious — the construction workers or us. State inspection is scheduled for July 22, so I can tell you that we will have class in these rooms on the first day of school in August.

Q: What are some of the advantages that the addition will make way for?

A: Besides the obvious one with giving each teacher a room, we’ll have extra student restrooms, so there’ll be no more waiting in line to use the restroom between classes. Also, we now have all of our English teachers on one hall and all of our social studies teachers on one hall.

Q: How excited are you about the addition, not only with the classrooms, but also the stadium on the way?

A: I haven’t even let myself get excited about the stadium yet. We can have school this Fall without the stadium, but we’ve got to have these classrooms. We graduated around 120 seniors last fall and have about 225 freshmen coming up this year. We’ve got to have this room. But, I’m extremely overjoyed to see all this progress going on.

Q: With the stadium on the way, this addition nearing completion, and the recent addition at Westside complete, what do you think that says for the Demopolis City Schools System as a whole?

A: You know, without a doubt, we have a flagship school system here in this area. We’re a very proud of our school system and we have a great sense of pride here at DHS. With the stadium on the way, I feel certain that when it arrives, it will only rejuvenate that sense of pride shared by not only our students, but the city as a whole.