For Immediate Release Contact: Cordell Jordan
August 17, 2006 405.587.0232
First New Elementary School Built by MAPS for Kids Opens Monday
Oklahoma City – When the morning bell rings at 8:30 a.m. on Monday, August 21 at Martin Luther King Junior Elementary school 1201 NE 48, it will mark the first time OKCPS elementary students have gone to class in a new building since 2000 and the first new elementary school built using money generated by MAPS for Kids. MAPS for Kids was passed by voters in 2001 and includes a one-cent sales tax along with bond sales projected to generate close to a half-billion dollars in revenue for OKCPS.
The brand new MLK Jr. Elementary is an approximately 100-thousand square foot facility built on the site of the old Longfellow Elementary. The building is a Pre K through 6th grade school designed to accommodate 780 students. The project includes brand new band/orchestra classrooms, music rooms, visual arts facilities and a media center. It also has a new kitchen/cafeteria combination. The cost of the entire project is approximately $12 million.
MLK Jr. is the first new elementary school in the District since Thelma R. Parks Elementary. OKCPS has 58 Elementary schools and all but four are 40 years old or older with five buildings being built around statehood. MLK is the combination of Dewey and Longfellow Elementary schools which were closed to make way for this new facility.
Media is invited to MLK for the beginning of school Monday. The building can be opened to facilitate inside live shots/remotes beginning at 5:30 a.m. please contact Cordell Jordan at 706-5573 to make arrangements. Interim Superintendent Linda Brown will be available for interviews beginning at 7:15 a.m.
Educating Students for Life-Long Learning and Responsible Living
