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One roof.
On Tuesday morning, various city, civic and business leaders gathered at the Neosho R-5 School District Administrative Center, 418 Fairground Rd., for a special dedication ceremony.
“This is a very exciting day for us,” said Lynn Otey, school board president. “This has been a dream, I believe, for several years in trying to find a facility, a location to house all of the Neosho R-5 administration and directors under one roof. So last year, the city gave us the opportunity to purchase this building. Lots of research was done in looking into it and seeing if it was a possibility. And, as you can see today, it was a possibility.”
Prior to the 2005 bond issue, the central office was located in Neosho High School. That has not been
the case for the last few years, however.
“I go back and think about just our office, just the central office, the high school used to be the place for that building,” said Neosho R-5 Superintendent Dr. Richard Page. “It was probably 30-40 years that the central office was [first] located on the high school campus.
“In 2005, when we passed the bond issue and renovated the high school, that is when we needed to relocate. From that point on, we went from the high school to the old First Baptist Church (located near the Neosho Square), which was vacant at the time. We were there for about a year and a half, then we moved from there to the Chalmer’s Insurance building,and was there for almost a little more than a year. That worked out OK, but then again, we didn’t have everybody with us — it was just not a place where all of the departments could come under one roof. So this is our fourth move, our fourth location in the last six years, but hopefully a location we will be at for a long time.”
Page also noted that the central office now has a new name: The administrative center. Otey also explained this concept.
“This is just wonderful for the Neosho R-5 District, because now that we have all of our directors, all of our superintendents under one building, it makes it efficient for them to work as a team now by not having to go from one side of the city to the other to meet and make decisions,” Otey said. “But it is also very important for the students of our community for the Neosho R-5 School District, because as the Rec Center, it did meet the needs of their children growing up. We had basketball programs here, I believe that adults had aerobics here at one time and, of course, when I was in high school, we used it for Teen Town dances. But again, as the new administration center, it will still meet the needs of our children. I look at this building as a multi-purpose building. Not only does it house our directors and superintendents, but the gym is used for our ROTC program. When there is inclement weather, they can come up here and they can practice their drills. But also now, it is the home for our state champion wrestling team.”
One roof.
On Tuesday morning, various city, civic and business leaders gathered at the Neosho R-5 School District Administrative Center, 418 Fairground Rd., for a special dedication ceremony.
“This is a very exciting day for us,” said Lynn Otey, school board president. “This has been a dream, I believe, for several years in trying to find a facility, a location to house all of the Neosho R-5 administration and directors under one roof. So last year, the city gave us the opportunity to purchase this building. Lots of research was done in looking into it and seeing if it was a possibility. And, as you can see today, it was a possibility.”
Prior to the 2005 bond issue, the central office was located in Neosho High School. That has not been
the case for the last few years, however.
“I go back and think about just our office, just the central office, the high school used to be the place for that building,” said Neosho R-5 Superintendent Dr. Richard Page. “It was probably 30-40 years that the central office was [first] located on the high school campus.
“In 2005, when we passed the bond issue and renovated the high school, that is when we needed to relocate. From that point on, we went from the high school to the old First Baptist Church (located near the Neosho Square), which was vacant at the time. We were there for about a year and a half, then we moved from there to the Chalmer’s Insurance building,and was there for almost a little more than a year. That worked out OK, but then again, we didn’t have everybody with us — it was just not a place where all of the departments could come under one roof. So this is our fourth move, our fourth location in the last six years, but hopefully a location we will be at for a long time.”
Page also noted that the central office now has a new name: The administrative center. Otey also explained this concept.
“This is just wonderful for the Neosho R-5 District, because now that we have all of our directors, all of our superintendents under one building, it makes it efficient for them to work as a team now by not having to go from one side of the city to the other to meet and make decisions,” Otey said. “But it is also very important for the students of our community for the Neosho R-5 School District, because as the Rec Center, it did meet the needs of their children growing up. We had basketball programs here, I believe that adults had aerobics here at one time and, of course, when I was in high school, we used it for Teen Town dances. But again, as the new administration center, it will still meet the needs of our children. I look at this building as a multi-purpose building. Not only does it house our directors and superintendents, but the gym is used for our ROTC program. When there is inclement weather, they can come up here and they can practice their drills. But also now, it is the home for our state champion wrestling team.”
Along with the directors and the superintendents under one roof, the school board will be having its meetings there.
“We have had our board meetings at every building site for the last (few) years, and now it is nice to have one location that people know where the board meetings are going to be and can come and attend and be a part of the meetings,” Page added.
Assistant superintendent Dr. Jim Cummins thanked all of those who worked on the building. A ribbon
cutting ceremony and expansion award was presented and then those in attendance had the opportunity to tour the facility.
“We are real pleased, real proud,” Page said.
