Farewell to P.B. Ritch Tonight
The school is hosting an “evening of memories and well wishes” today at 6:30 p.m.
The students will walk out of P.B. Ritch Elementary for the last time on Friday. But before the facility shuts its doors to pupils, the school community will celebrate its history.
The school’s gym will be the site tonight of a farewell to the school, which will officially close June 30, though Friday marks the end of the school yea for students. The event is set for 6:30 to 7:30 p.m.
What are your favorite memories of P.B. Ritch Elementary? Tell us in the comments.
District officials say the decision to close the school was made due to the building’s need for repairs and renovations. The facility, built in 1985 as a middle school before being converted to an elementary school, has septic and HVAC issues.
The school system held two public hearings for feedback from the community before bringing the closure issue to the school board for its initial vote. The board voted in April 2011 to put the school’s phase-out on the district’s five-year facilities plan; board members in January approved the school’s closure effective the end of the fiscal year.
Students who would have remained at P.B. Ritch in 2012-2013 will instead go to either Baggett Elementary or Hutchens Elementary, per plans presented and approved in February.
And though P.B. Ritch Elementary will be shutting its doors soon, the name will live on—the district’s next new school, set to open this fall, will be known as P.B. Ritch Middle School.
In This article
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P.B. Ritch Elementary School
140 Bethel Church Rd, Hiram, GA -
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Baggett Elementary School
948 Williams Lake Rd, Powder Springs, GA -
Hal Hutchens Elementary School
586 Clonts Rd, Douglasville, GA -
