The wheels are turning on Warren County Public Schools’ newest construction project, Summit View Elementary School, which will stand along Dillard Road near South Warren Middle and High Schools and will help the district keep up with student needs as the area south of Bowling Green continues to grow.

Chris McIntyre, chief operations officer for WCPS, told the Daily News that Rich Pond Elementary, which opened just a few years ago, already houses around 1,000 students, a number that Jody Richards Elementary is getting close to as well.

“When Rich Pond opened three Augusts ago, it opened with about 760 (students), and then it jumped to 880, and 1,000,” McIntyre said. “We’re growing 100 plus kids in that school a year, and with the … continued growth, we don’t foresee that slowing down.”

Summit View is planned to house 850 students once it opens. However, in McIntyre’s words, 1,000 kids could fit inside “easily.”

Work first began on the school last September. Twenty acres along Dillard Road were rezoned in November and in February of this year, construction work began.

Different parts of the school are designated as “areas.” Areas A and B are the two wings of the building that will house classrooms, Area C sits between the educational wings and consists of the front office. Area D will become the school’s cafeteria and Area E will be the gymnasium.

McIntyre said so far, the concrete floor in Area A has been poured and within the next month the concrete between the different levels of the school will be installed in Area A. He said the same things will happen in Areas B and C next, and then construction will advance toward the cafeteria and the gym.

The WCPS Board on Thursday night unanimously approved the issuance of bonds for the school. McIntyre said while the district will have to carry some costs associated with the project – around $5 million to $10 million – these costs are expected to be made up once bonds are sold.

“In a nutshell, it’s a cash management game,” McIntyre said.

Summit View is set to open its doors in the fall of 2027. McIntyre said the school will house students in kindergarten through sixth grade and will be identical to Rich Pond Elementary once completed. McIntyre said Summit View will most likely funnel students into South Warren.

The school will have a “ski lodge theme” he said, joining some other schools in the district that have themed architecture.

“Kids love (the themes), kids get excited about it, they get tied to their school,” he said. “… Kids love their school, really take a lot of pride in their school, and therefore their parents or guardians will get involved more in the school.

“When you have that connection of that everybody loves the school and is drawn to their school, you start seeing whole lot better results in the classroom,” he said.

Along with the new school building, plans are in store for a roundabout at Dillard Road’s intersection with Bettersworth Road. McIntyre said funding for the project will be handled by the Inter-Modal Transportation Authority.

The work has been approved and a bid has been secured. Work on the roundabout will most likely start in the summer of 2026.