Brass instruments, woodwinds and drums ushered in the approaching new era for the Greenwood Leflore Consolidated School District. Before a crowd of dozens of excited people in Greenwood, Mississippi, a combined band featuring players from Greenwood High School, Amanda Elzy High School and Leflore County High School came together to play the National Anthem
The crowd had gathered on Cypress Avenue, a long road that winds north to south through the Greenwood-Leflore Industrial Park in Greenwood, Mississippi. For the most part, Cypress Avenue is nothing out of the ordinary.
On the afternoon of Jan. 23, officials blocked that section of Cypress Avenue so that the assembled could celebrate something extraordinary: the groundbreaking of Leflore County’s first new high school in generations. Members of the Greenwood Leflore Consolidated School District took golden shovels and symbolically drove them into the dirt, signifying the historic construction.
“It is a moment of progress,” Greenwood Leflore Consolidated School District Superintendent Kenneth Pulley told the crowd. “A moment where we stand together and say that our children deserve the very best and we are willing to build that high school.”
The land is 16th section land located in the Greenwood-Leflore Industrial Park. M3A Architects is handling the school’s design, and its website says it is prioritizing “flexible learning environments, efficient traffic flow, and long-term sustainability.”
Greenwood High, Amanda Elzy High and Leflore County High serve just over 1,300 students, though Leflore County High School located in Itta Bena, Mississippi, also includes seventh and eighth-grade students. A trip from Itta Bena to Amanda Elzy High School is about 15 miles long and takes about 25 minutes. Students in Greenwood city limits attend Greenwood High School, while students in county towns like Schlater and Minter City attend either Leflore County High or Amanda Elzy.
Those three high schools combined serve just over 1,300 students, though Leflore County High School, located in nearby Itta Bena, Mississippi, also includes seventh and eighth-grade students. Soon, the schools will combine on one new campus.
“This groundbreaking is also a symbol of unity,” Pulley said. “By coming together as one district in 2019, and soon as one high school, we are showing everyone what is possible when we choose collaboration over division.”
The new school has been a long time coming for the nascent school district, which formed in 2019 through the consolidation of the Greenwood Public School District and the Leflore County School District. Seven years after its formation, Pulley is its fourth superintendent. The district has also lost hundreds of students, going from an enrollment of 4,717 in the 2019-2020 school year to 3,363 in the current school year. That represents a drop of nearly 29%. In addition, all buildings in the district are decades old. The district’s “newest” high school, Greenwood High School, was built in the 1960s.
The school board moved forward with plans to build a new high school in 2024 and started by authorizing putting a bond issue question on that year’s ballot, which would authorize the district to borrow up to $44 million to construct the new facility. The measure easily passed with 65% of voters approving the measure in November 2024.
“This moment belongs to you—parents, grandparents, educators, faith leaders and neighbors—who believed that our children deserved a place of learning that reflects their worth, their history and their limitless potential,” said school board president Kalanya Moore. “Your voices, your votes, (and) your perseverance made this possible. This school represents more than just brick and mortar. It represents a commitment—a commitment to educational excellence, to cultural pride and to opportunity rooted right here in Leflore County, Mississippi.”
Pulley, a Greenwood native and graduate of Greenwood High School, has a deep appreciation for the educational success of Leflore County. His grandmother, Claudine Brown, was the first African American woman to serve on the Leflore County School Board. She had such an impact locally that Rising Sun Elementary School was renamed Claudine Brown Elementary School in her honor.
He even pointed out to the Mississippi Free Press that his childhood home is located in a neighborhood just north of the future high school’s location.
“I think it means a great deal,” Pulley told the Mississippi Free Press. “It’s evident from the crowd here today, in the cold weather, that people are supportive of what we have going on and we are excited about this opportunity to build a new high school for our kids.”
Pulley said construction on the new school is expected to begin in late March or early April of this year, with an anticipated opening date in time for the 2027 fall semester.