Woodstock High School Addition Set to Open on Time and on Budget in August
The three-story, 40,800-square-foot building adds 20 classrooms and brings new Career Pathway programs to the school for the first time
Woodstock Community News Staff
Cherokee County School Board members toured the nearly complete classroom addition at Woodstock High School on Wednesday, with district officials confirming the three-story, 40,800-square-foot building will open on time and within budget when students return in August.
Board Chair Janet Read Welch and members Chance Beam, Kelly Poole and Dr. Susan Padgett-Harrison joined Superintendent Mary Elizabeth Davis and senior staff for the walkthrough. The project was funded through the 1% Education Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax — known as SPLOST — approved by Cherokee County voters.
The addition includes 20 new classrooms and, perhaps most visibly, eliminates the need for mobile classrooms on the Woodstock High campus entirely. For a school that serves thousands of students from across the northern portion of Cherokee County, the change is hard to overstate. Principal Charley Ingham didn't mince words. "There's been nothing but gratitude," he said. "The pride students are walking around with is incredible." He called the addition a "game changer" for the school.
The new square footage doesn't just replace trailers — it unlocks programs. Woodstock High will begin offering the healthcare science Career Pathway, a track already available at every other Cherokee County School District high school. Until now, Woodstock High was the only campus in the district without it. The fire and emergency services Career Pathway will also move into a larger, dedicated classroom equipped with an ambulance simulator.
Two additional Career Pathways — aviation and cybersecurity — are new to Woodstock High School, relocating from ACTIVE Academies, a district facility that has housed specialized career and technical education programs. Students at Woodstock High will now have on-campus access to both programs.
The ripple effects reach into the existing building as well. With math classes shifting into the new addition, Special Education programs will be able to expand into larger classrooms in the main building — a change educators and advocates have long sought as enrollment has grown.
Board member Kelly Poole, whose own children graduated from Woodstock High, put it plainly during the tour. "Knowing there's a whole building that can house career education programs we haven't had before is incredible," she said.
That sentiment cuts to the heart of what SPLOST funding is designed to do. Cherokee County voters have repeatedly approved the sales tax as a mechanism for financing school construction and renovation without burdening property owners with bond debt — and Wednesday's walkthrough was a tangible demonstration of that investment paying off. For Woodstock High families, the payoff arrives in August.
Source: Cherokee County School District
