Twenty years ago, construction of Mayfield Elementary School in Cleveland, Tennessee, was underway. The accompanying photograph from the Chattanooga Times Free Press archives is dated Dec. 19, 2006, and shows the school being built.
According to newspaper reports, the new school, which ultimately opened in 2007, was constructed to relieve overcrowding in the Cleveland City Schools. The K-5 school, now at 501 NE 20th St., was previously on Magnolia Avenue in Cleveland, where it opened in 1928. The 78-year-old school had just over 300 students in its last year of operation in 2006.
According to online sources, the school now has more than 400 students and a student-teacher ratio of 13:1. Jessica Bigham, the principal, is a native of Mississippi and holds a doctorate from Liberty University.
In 2006-07, the new Mayfield school was built at a cost of $16 million. It included separate music rooms, an auditorium and computer labs. Cleveland City Schools officials said at the time that the new school was built to be serviceable for 70 years.
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