After 17 years, former East Elementary School Principal — and The Times’ 2023 Distinguished Citizen of the Year, David Wiggins — gave his last high-five at the end of the 2022-2023 school year. Melanie Harris from the Florence City School system was chosen to lead EES into what Wiggins predicted would be “a new era.”
“What happens next is going to be unique and different. I expect the new leader will bring in a lot of new ideas and innovation,” Wiggins told The Times shortly after announcing his retirement.
Wiggins’ words are ringing true for not only East Elementary, but for the entire Cullman City School district based on a number of major changes the system has recently experienced.
Superintendent Kyle Kallhoff began seeking the community’s feedback in January with a focus on six key areas: facilities, curriculum and assessment, student safety and support, employees, technology and finance. Based on the 130 responses Kallhoff received, he unveiled his “2023 Pillars of Commitment and Strategic Plan for the Future” to the school board in July 2023.
One major change was a proposed intermediate school which would consolidate the district’s third through fifth grade students.
Currently, students within these grades are split between East Elementary School and West Elementary School despite the district having a unified student body at all other grade levels. Officials say that by establishing a single intermediate school, the system will be able to better serve the students and families within the city of Cullman and create a more cohesive primary educational pathway.
Once completed, the campus will feature up to 14 classrooms per grade level, self-contained special education classrooms, resource special education classrooms, an English language learners and speech room, a music room, art room, gifted room and lab space.
After East Elementary students have successfully transitioned to the Intermediate school, that campus will be renovated to act as an additional site for the district’s pre-K program.
Elementary school second graders transitioned to the newly expanded Cullman Primary School in October.
Campus renovations are already in progress in the form of a newly completed classroom wing at Cullman Middle School, which welcomed its first students as they returned from Christmas break. The completion of the new wing marked the end for the campus’s historic “round building” which, after 50 years in service, was demolished in late 2023. A second phase of classroom construction will soon begin at the site and is designed to connect with the freshly-opened new building to form one contiguous building.
A new multi-level wing at Cullman High School is currently in the design stages. The building will be constructed adjacent to the current agriscience shop and will feature 11 new classrooms and six new programs: Cybersecurity, Engineering, Computer Science, Health Science, Marketing and Educators in Training.
Two new STEM and health science labs are also planned for the building’s upper level, while the bottom level will house a freshly announced Modern Manufacturing program administered through a partnership with North AlabamaWorks.
The school board itself experienced a small restructuring during the summer break when the now former vice-president, Joey Orr, voluntarily vacated her seat in order to take on a new role leading the Cullman Area Chamber of Commerce. Jill Bradberry was appointed to fill Orr’s position the following month.