A new enrollment record of 3332 students in the R-7 School District was set in the fall of 1996.
With an increase of 50 to 100 students annually, the school board needed to find new ways to
keep the teacher/student ratio low. The board decided to build a new school to accommodate
the fifth and sixth grades. The seventh and eighth grades would take over the sixth grade center
at the junior high. In June 1997 voters passed a bond issue for the construction of new school.
A portion of the bond issue, 4.5 million, would be used to build a new 72,000 square foot fifth and
sixth grade center. It was decided to construct the new building at 603 W. Aylor on property owned
by the school district. Architect Jim Latimer designed a building that would have 24 classrooms,
kitchen, cafeteria, 2 computer rooms, art room, music room, special education room, a media center
and a gymnasium.
In October 1997 the school district named the new school Webb City Middle School. A low bid of
$3,542,000 was submitted by Crossland Construction Company in January 1998 and a groundbreaking
ceremony was held on February 6, 1998. The school was completed in April 1999. The fifth and sixth
grade students helped with the move into the new building. Hallways in the new school were named for
the school board members. Larry Shelley was chosen to be the first principal of the school. All fifth and
sixth grade students from the district attend classes there. The building is divided with 12 classrooms on
the east and 12 classrooms on the west. The two groups of classrooms are divided into 3 four-room pods.
The Webb City Middle School continues to grow with the community. Two new pods were added to the
building in 2004.
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