Bishop Public School builds new middle school

Work is progressing on a new middle school for the Bishop school district. The new school will open for the 2024-2025 school year for sixth and seventh grade.

Howard Hampton, Bishop principal and superintendent, said the school passed an $8 million bond issue in 2022 for the new 15,000-square-foot school.

“People in the area have always wanted a middle school and everything just came together where the funding would be able to happen,” Hampton said.

Hampton said the new school will be named Bishop Middle School and “encompass” sixth and seventh graders for the first academic year. After that, it will hold sixth through eighth grade. When eighth graders transition to high school, they will go to Lawton or Cache.

Hampton said the population growth has mostly been in the Park Ridge and Rolling Hills areas. Both areas, as well as King Arthur’s Court and Sycamore Trails trailer parks, have seen expansions of new homes and units. Bishop, which serves elementary students now, has an enrollment of 568 students.

“There’s probably 70 homes under construction right now that are in our district,” Hampton said. “Thirty of them have been built. We do expect an influx of students.”

Hampton said there will be eight new classrooms, including an Innovation Center and STEM lab.

“We’re planning on having a lot of electives including sports, basketball, football, volleyball and cheerleading,” Hampton said.

Hampton also said the district has already added several new staff members with about five to eight new teachers, depending on electives.

“When the fifth and sixth graders move across the street, it will free space over here,” Hampton said. “Our music teacher will be able to get out of the cafeteria and she’ll be able to have her own classroom.”

According to an update last year, the school applied for a FEMA grant of $2.5 million. The grant is for a storm shelter that can double as classrooms.When approved, construction will be added to the North end of the building. The storm shelter facility will not be a separate building. Hampton said the school is still waiting on results.

Hampton said if the FEMA grant is funded, it would expand an additional four classrooms by about 5,000 square feet in addition to the eight classrooms they have now.

“We have a FEMA grant that is currently being reviewed,” Hampton said. “We have not heard back whether or not we’re funded yet, so we’re still waiting on that piece to come in.”