When the Troup County School Board first approved a resolution to phase out Whitesville Road Elementary School back in November 2016, there was understandably some hesitance from students, teachers and alumni who had fond memories of their time at the school.

The school board’s decision to close WRES was made after the board reviewed a long list of necessary repairs and renovations that the school would require.

However, it was determined  that the cost of building a new school would actually cost less than the extensive repairs.

By this Wednesday, that hesitation from students and faculty had dissolved — for the most part at least — into excitement for the new, as of yet unnamed, elementary school that is currently under construction a few miles away from WRES.

Construction on the new school is scheduled to be completed by August 2018. The same students who participated in the stake driving ceremony for the new school will likely walk the halls of that school by this time next year, instead of the halls of WRES where they are now enrolled.

That transition may be tearful for some who remember Whitesville Road from its decades of use, but new memories will be made at this new school and young lives will be transformed as students experience the first years of their education at this new school.

We wish all the students at Whitesville Road and throughout the county good luck in this year and the year to come.