After a construction delay due to large amounts of summer rainfall, the Mississippi State University and Starkville-Oktibbeha Consolidated School District Partnership School is slated for a Spring 2019 completion date.
The $27.5 million school, which broke ground on construction in May, was originally anticipated to open in November 2018. The school will serve every sixth-and seventh-grader residing in Oktibbeha County, and will also be a demonstration site for student teachers and faculty members in MSU’s College of Education.
Other universities across the country, like Louisiana State University and the University of Chicago have campus lab-schools and a private elementary school, respectively.
However, according to Devon Brenner, assistant to the vice president of research and economic development at MSU, those schools are often only available to the elite, with many of the students being professor’s or administrator’s children.
The partnership school will be housed on MSU’s campus but built in conjunction with the public school district. Once completed, it will be the only school in the nation designed this way.
“Other campus-based schools are not a realistic picture of what life is like for students or teachers,” Brenner said. “They clearly aren’t meant to serve a broader community, but our Partnership School is designed to do exactly that.”
Although construction just began this year, the Partnership School has been on MSU’s and SOCSD’s agenda since 2015, when it was announced the Oktibbeha County schools and Starkville city schools would consolidate.
David Shaw, MSU vice president of research and economic development, said after watching his daughter go through Oktibbeha County schools, he knew the struggles the county school district was facing first hand.
After consolidation efforts, Shaw said he traveled to colleges in Arkansas, Ohio and Alabama to research the models of many campus-based elementary schools to begin formulating ideas for something similar in Starkville.
In late 2015, it was decided the partnership between MSU and SOCSD for a sixth-and seventh-grade school would be a realistic fit for the entire community, therefore putting the partnership school into action.  
“Once we settled, it was just like this was the match that sparked a fire of enthusiasm,” Shaw said excitedly. “It created a huge, ground swell of momentum from all aspects of the community with parents, MSU and the entire district being behind it.”
SOCSD Superintendent Eddie Peasant said as generations go by, children learn differently, which is why the way educators’ teaching should grow alongside of the student. However, he said the classrooms never changed to accommodate those changes.
Complete with pod-style classrooms and floor-to-ceiling glass, the 128,000 square-foot building is both innovative and complementary of the way children learn today, Peasant added.
“This provides all of the students in our district the opportunity to learn in a state-of-the-art facility and also the experience of going to school on the campus of a university,” Peasant said. “Their experiences will stand out from those of sixth-and seventh-graders anywhere else.”
Aside from the modern technology which will be featured, Shaw and Peasant agreed that being located in the heart of MSU’s campus will provide added benefits to each student.
Each student will have a list of resources at their fingertips, Shaw added, without having to take a bus.
“Classes will be able to walk to the archaeology and chemistry buildings and they will have access to the library,” Shaw said. “If I put myself in the place of a sixth-or seventh-grader, I would just think ‘man this is so cool that I get all of these opportunities.’”
In addition to classroom space, the building will also house five classrooms and 12 offices for the MSU College of Education, which will be ideal for the teacher preparation program.
By using the school for sixth-and seventh-grade, Shaw added that it would bring together both elementary and secondary education students to collaborate throughout their four-year education at MSU.
Outside of each classroom, there will be tables equipped with audio devices which will allow each student teacher to listen to the classroom lesson. The floor-to-ceiling glass will also provide easy observation for the student teachers.
Brenner, who was previously head of the curriculum, instruction and special education department within MSU’s College of Education, said although it will largely benefit education students, she does not want to lose sight of the fact that the partnership is a university-wide initiative.
“When this project began, I was promoted into the office of research to represent this project across the entire university,” Brenner said. “Even though most consider it closest to teacher education, there are opportunities for collaborations with human sciences, psychology, math, the Bagley College of Engineering K-12 outreach program, and the veterinary school.”
In addition, MSU student organizations pertaining to community service, leadership and education will be able to rent classroom space to hold meetings, Brenner said. Honors college students and student-athletes may also have opportunities to mentor children attending the partnership school.
Overall, Peasant said the best part about being involved in this partnership is the opportunity to “educate educators.”
“Throughout their four years of education, these student teachers will be heavily involved in our district,” Peasant said. “I think that will come to our advantage when they graduate, and we start trying to get some of them to work for us. It’s going to be a total package.”