The middle school is the fourth and last of Fairborn’s school buildings to be completely redone.
“What you’re seeing done here in Fairborn, with all the new schools, is not replicated anywhere that I’ve seen, certainly not in Miami Valley, and I don’t think anywhere in Ohio,” said Fairborn Mayor Dan Kirkpatrick. “That truly represents the commitment of our citizens to our young people.”
While some other communities have built all new schools (West Carrollton is in the process now, and Dayton most prominently did it years ago), Fairborn city and school officials both expressed gratitude to residents and taxpayers.
After voters approved a 2016 tax issue to leverage state funds, the district built and opened the new Primary School in 2020 and Intermediate School in 2022. Then, voters approved a 5.83-mill bond issue in 2020 to pay for the new high school, arts center and athletics complex in conjunction with Ohio Facilities Construction Commission funding.
“We could not have done it without the support of the Fairborn community, passing the bond issues that (were) needed to build these new schools, along with the OFCC,” Superintendent Amy Gayheart said.
Credit: Bryant Billing
Credit: Bryant Billing
The middle school will be 152,293 square feet and is expected to be complete in August 2027.
Fairborn Middle School Principal Stephanie Reynolds said the new middle school will be the first that is expressly designed for her students.
“We are ecstatic to have our own building. The old one was a high school and an elementary. The one we’re in, it’s a high school. So this will be the first actual Middle School for us in Fairborn,” she said.
The old Baker Middle School, which is being demolished, did not have air conditioning.
The new building will have state-of-the-art technology, as well as support for computers or materials that improve career explorations for students, Reynolds said, adding that there are other elements of the building designed by the middle school students themselves.
“They were very into designing an outside play space,” she said. “They designed all the equipment that will be out there. They’ve also designed artwork for the walls, they’ve designed some of the art classroom and how they would like it to look ... We’ve been doing this long enough that some of the middle school design elements are in the high school as well.”
Embarking on the final phase, Gayheart said school leadership wanted the district’s facilities to be “quality, solid construction” that would meet the needs of students for generations to come.
“We wanted to build quality buildings. We don’t know how long that these will be in use, but they’ve got a lifespan of at least 50 years, and so we need to make decisions that will carry our students through in these facilities for the next 50 years,” she said.
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