BAKER COUNTY, Ga. (WTXL) - A school system with fewer than 300 students in the entire district, is making thousands of dollars worth of updates and enhancements to their school, thanks to Baker County SPLOST dollars.
When students open the doors of Baker County K-12 and walk the hallways, they will have a new experience and see new updates not only in one particular area of the school, but all over the campus.
"We are working to offer our students anything that a bigger school would offer," said Michael Best, the principal at Baker County K-12.
With fewer than 300 students at Baker County K-12, officials say they may be small in number, but the upgrades they've completed this summer, is at the level of larger schools in the country.
"We're upgrading our image. We're upgrading our offerings,"said Best. "We want people to see that Baker County can offer a quality education and offer a future to our students."
Students will have a new outdoor track for school sports and for family functions, a new weight room for athletes, a remodeled media center and cafeteria along with new floors to the gymnasium.
"We're offering our students the world, and we want them to have all of the advantages of every other student in our communities," said Best.
This year the school will start a new band and art program. They also started breaking ground on a new greenhouse for their new agriculture program where they will use the crops in the school cafeteria and sell them to local plantations.
"We offer here at Baker County, everything that students in bigger schools would have," said Best.
The principal says overall, the Baker County Board of Education and the Superintendent have worked hard this summer to ensure current students are given the best while appealing to future students.
"It was important to offer the students and families of Baker County everything everyone else is offering in surrounding counties," Best explained. "I think these students deserve a quality education. They deserve a safe environment."
School officials say they will have an open house on August 30, to showcase the new updates to the school.
Right now they are still installing the new gymnasium floor as well as the greenhouse, but they expect both to be finished before the start of the school year.
