Hanover County (Virginia) district is building 2 replacement elementary schools

The Hanover County (Virginia) district has broken ground on replacements for two of its elementary schools.

Virginia Public Media reports that the new facilities--Battlefield Park Elementary in Mechanicsville and Beaverdam Elementary in Beaverdam--are expected to be open for the 2026-27 school year.

The architect for the two schools is Crabtree, Rohrbaugh & Associates.

The district has plans to replace a handful of Hanover's aging school buildings over the next several years, but aren’t sure which schools should be built first.

Replacing the county's aging facilities has been a priority since 2018, after the board commissioned a study to evaluate which schools needed to be replaced, renovated or demolished.

Beyond the upcoming fiscal year, the school district has plans to replace two elementary schools and two high schools by 2045. Mechanicsville and Patrick Henry high schools are the next two schools that have been recommended for replacement.

Hanover’s school board also considered Elmont and Parsons elementaries before choosing Mechanicsville Elementary, according to Pennycuff. All three schools were built in the 1960s and are in similarly poor condition, but Mechanicsville’s needs were deemed more immediate, Assistant Superintendent Terry Stone said.