Warm temperatures and sunny skies greeted guests as Indian Creek Elementary students, teachers, and staff commemorated their brand-new school building with a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Tuesday, May 3.
Proud students and their teachers paraded around the school’s courtyard with colorful welcome banners and signs as they waved to guests. Students read poems, staged outstanding musical performances, and welcomed attendees in their native languages to honor the multi-cultural student body and Clarkston community.
Indian Creek Elementary is one of the district’s newest modern facilities. Its state-of-the-art, 159,000 square foot facility design utilizes many of the most current trends in school construction. The result impressively provides visually appealing learning and teaching environment for students and teachers.
Indian Creek is one of the most diverse schools in DCSD. According to Principal Stephanie Brown-Bryant, approximately 80 percent of Indian Creek students originated from other countries and account for more than 35 languages. She called her students “global beams of hope and inspiration for the next generation”.
“I stand before you, beaming with pride and joy, in honor of the dream that has become a reality in this community. Indian Creek has been the heartbeat of this community since 1961, and we stand before you as servants of the heartbeat,” said Brown-Bryant. “Every student belongs to every one of us. Their joys, successes, and even their challenges, are not ignored, but are embraced as a backdrop to a great and brilliant story of victory.”
Interim Superintendent Dr. Vasanne Tinsley said Indian Creek is an example of when the school is the center of the community; all things are possible for the students and families.
“This building helps us make sure that we’re providing the educational possibilities for our students because these are the leaders, the global beams of light for the next generation. These students will solve the problems that we cannot even begin to conceive today,” said Dr. Tinsley. “So, giving them this foundational start is just what they need to succeed. And that’s how it should be for every student in every DeKalb County school building.”
The school officially opened at the beginning of the 2021–2022 academic year, and the ceremonial ribbon cutting was delayed due to COVID-19 restrictions. The $42.8-million facility is a successful construction project funded through E-SPLOST V. It replaces its former namesake, which opened in 1961 and was located 500 feet east of the new building.
DeKalb County Board of Education Member Dr. Joyce Morley said she remembers attending the groundbreaking ceremony during cold weather.
“Now we’re here to see, on a summery day, how great and wonderful our buildings can look,” said Dr. Morley. “I want to say to the children how blessed you are and how fortunate you are that you can have a place that you come to every day that is a reflection of you. But it’s not so much what goes on the outside than what I’m expecting from you on the inside—and that is to soar like eagles.”