Missouri’s Fastest-Growing District Opens High School

ST. LOUIS — Wentzville R-IV School District (WSD) opened the $40.3 million Liberty High School in St. Louis in the fall to accommodate growing enrollment. This is the third and newest high school for the fastest growing school district in Missouri, which continues to grow by 500 students annually and has more than doubled since 2000.

A total of 283 freshmen are occupying the building this year, with an additional class of freshman joining them next year. When the inaugural class graduates from the four-year school in 2017, about 1,200 students will be enrolled.

Liberty High School is the latest in the school district’s growing portfolio. “In the past decade, the district has built five elementary schools, a middle school, a new transportation facility and now this beautiful new high school,” said Superintendent Dr. Curtis Cain at the high school’s ribbon-cutting ceremony. “During that same period the WSD has also added over 100 classrooms to existing buildings as well.”

Chesterfield, Mo.-headquartered Brinkmann Constructors served as the general contractor on the project, while St. Louis-based Hoener Associates Inc. was the architect. The project was completed within an aggressive 16-month schedule.

“It took a tremendous amount of coordination with the building team and the school district to complete this $40.3 million project in 16 months,” said John Puent, project manager for Brinkmann, in a statement.

The 227,000-square-foot school features 54 classrooms and a 16,000-square-foot gym. Students walk into the main entry, clad in brick and adorned with Liberty Eagle cast stone medallions, and are greeted with an open lobby and security hall that screens people entering the building.

The school is designed using the most up-to-date technology, such as a fiber optic backbone for both wired and wireless Internet. It features a central core that connects three academic wings. They include science labs, computer labs, art rooms, band and chorus rooms, a media center, a library, a cafeteria and full-service kitchen and administrative space. The athletic wing features a gymnasium, weight room, wrestling room, cardiovascular training room, and boys and girls locker rooms. The school is also designed to accommodate future growth, with space to build classrooms, a theater and a second gymnasium.

The biggest challenge for the project team was building a high school on an 80-acre site that had a small creek running through it. Vehicular and pedestrian bridges were required to connect the school with outdoor athletic facilities such as a track and football field, a soccer field, baseball and softball fields, and practice fields. The bridges were installed to cost efficiently comply with U.S. Army Corp of Engineers watershed regulations.

The WSD school board unanimously voted to name the new school Liberty High School based on suggestions from students, parents and stuff members. All 900-plus Frontier Middle School students had the opportunity to submit a name, mascot and color choices. Out of the 41 submissions, staff members narrowed them down to a master list of 15 names, five mascots and five color combinations. Then, the students, faculty and parents were allowed to vote via a Survey Monkey survey. This determined the new school colors to be red, white and blue, and the school mascot to be an eagle.

Liberty High School is the fifth major school project completed by Brinkmann over the past five years in Missouri. Others include the $70 million Westminster Christian Academy in Town & Country, Mo., the $30.3 million Francis Howell High School in St. Charles, Mo., the $6.6 million Central Visual and Performing Arts High School in St. Louis and the $4.9 million Rolla Junior High School in Rolla, Mo.