Houlka Attendance Center New Beginnings

HOULKA, Miss.(WCBI) – The Chickasaw County School District suffered a devastating loss after Houlka attendance center went up in flames four years ago.

Now with the start of the 2018/2019 school year a new building rises from the ashes.

This was Houlka Attendance Center in July of 2014 charred remains and firefighters putting out the blaze.

Fast forward to now. This is the new facility built from the ground up.

“The students have really taken pride in this new building,”said Houlka Principal Anthony Golding.

It’s been a long time coming but the Houlka Wildcats kicked off the school year with a brand new school.

“It’s just been a lot of excitement for these first few weeks. The students have just really been excited to be in this new building with the nice new paint and the new classroom furniture. So, it’s just been a real positive time for Houlka,”said Golding.

Golding says it was a great deal of work getting settled in, but it was worth it to be up and running for the first day.

“There were some days when all we did was come up here and move furniture and get everything ready. It was a lot of hard work from a lot of people but it’s been very rewarding. The students have loved it. The teachers have loved it. The whole community has taken to this building,”said Golding.

Weston Warran is a senior at the school and says he is thankful to experience the new school before crossing the stage in May.

“Coming into the building, I got a feeling of excitement and a renewed sense of community. It kind of just brought us closer because people come in, they looked, and people ask about the building. Questions like how we like it. It brings us closer together as a community,”said Warren.

Golding says he is grateful that in the face of adversity the community pulled together.

“That old school building meant so much to the city of Houlka. For this new building to be here whenever we had our open house we had a lot of people get emotional because it just means so much. This community really thrives on its school and they really have taken to this building as well,”said Golding.

The school sits in the exact same spot as the previous building.