FORT RILEY — A new elementary school that opened this fall makes Fort Riley the most modern district in the Army under the Department of Defense, a top Fort Riley official said.
Morris Hill Elementary School, which opened in time for the start of the academic year, consolidated previous facilities of the old Morris Hill and Jefferson elementary schools. An official celebration and ribbon-cutting ceremony took place last week.
Col. Terry Tillis, deputy commanding officer for the 1st Infantry Division, recognized not only the care involved but also the modernization efforts born from the partnership with the school district.
“This opening of this school marks a very modern era for the First Infantry Division and Fort Riley,” Tillis said. “We are the most modern district in the United States Army inside of the DOD … in the last six years I’ve been in five school districts. My daughter is a student in this school district. The difference about this school district is the true investment, the love and genuine care that not only the faculty, but the family members and the overall district itself provides and our loved ones in our students. It is hugely, hugely important. And that is the difference that makes this district so special.”
Not only did the new school combine the student body, but it also gives the students more space dedicated to specific purposes.
“This facility allows for open collaboration space for our students and staff so we can have small groups, we can have tutoring, grade level celebration space that we didn’t have prior,” said Melisa Burgess, principal of Morris Hill Elementary. “Our gym also served as our lunchroom and so now there are separate spaces and that allows for a lot more ease with scheduling and time for parents to be able to come in and eat with their with their kids.”
Tillis said he’s proud of the collaboration between Fort Riley and USD 475 Junction City. That partnership was the result of a larger-scope effort that began here more than 15 years ago.
David Jones, operation manager for the Office of Local Defense Community Cooperation explained the partnership between the Department of Defense and public schools serving military families started at Fort Riley when a parent asked a question about support to on-post schools to then-Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, who visited the installation in 2008.
Jones said in answer to the parent’s question, Gates went back to Washington D.C., and within two years the partnership between the DOD and public schools was born.
Since then, five Fort Riley schools and the new Junction City High School have had projects completed or are in the works under the agreement between the installation and USD 475.
During the ribbon-cutting ceremony, students in the school’s choir sang for those who attended the event.
Once they completed their performance, they were asked if they liked their new school. The response was a loud and positive affirmative cheer.
“Morris Hill has been in the planning for several years,” said Reginald Eggleston, the superintendent for Geary County Schools USD 475.
“And so we’re just excited to be able to come to this point to where we have brought everything almost to an end.”
Eggleston was quick to add that there is more than what meets the eye with Morris Hill Elementary.
“There’s a second part of construction that will continue because the goal is to eventually house up to 590 students and have eight pre-K classrooms in this facility,” Eggleston said.
“So, we believe it’s going to be a tremendous addition to the schools that we already have on post and really help us continue to support our soldiers and their families.”