SNOW HILL – Fifteen years after it was first discussed, the now complete renovation of Snow Hill High School was celebrated by the community this week.
On Tuesday, school system officials, county leaders and community members gathered at Snow Hill High School (SHHS) for a building dedication and ribbon cutting to mark the completion of the school’s renovation and expansion.
“This renovated masterpiece is a testament to the county’s philosophy of doing quality facilities for quality results,” said Bill Gordy, president of the Worcester County Board of Education.
According to Worcester County Commission President Jim Bunting, officials first discussed the need for an updated SHHS 15 years ago. He still remembers a tour of the school that illustrated the overcrowded building and its array of structural problems.
“It was in very bad shape,” he said.
Though a decade and a half has now passed, the southern portion of the county now boasts three state-of-the-art schools with SHHS, Worcester Technical High School and Pocomoke High School.
“Patience and perseverance paid off,” Bunting said.
He credited the commissioners who served the county during that time with bringing the projects to fruition and said he was pleased that the county could offer the student body schools like SHHS.
“Students are our future,” he said. “They deserve the best we can provide.”
The roughly $50 million renovation and addition of SHHS began in January 2014 and was completed in December. The project expanded the 70,657-square-foot school, which was built in 1957, to 122,310 square feet. With 10 additional classrooms, trailers will no longer be needed to accommodate students.
Superintendent Lou Taylor said the school system was proud to have facilities to offer students personalized instruction, the latest in technology and innovative materials of instruction. He said it was all important in ensuring that students were “college and career ready.”
“We believe our students and staff need facilities that mirror the workplaces of tomorrow…,” Taylor said. “Snow Hill High School truly embodies this kind of environment.”
Emily Mast, president of the Student Government Association at SHHS, said the completion of the school’s renovation was particularly meaningful to seniors, as they’d watched its progress during the past few years. She said she was both “enamored and humbled” by the new building.
“Every classroom is a mecca of resources,” she said.
