On Friday, December 15, 2023; we made Christmas wishes come true for more than 1,100 K-8 students, faculty, and staff at Jonesborough K-8 Elementary School. The elementary school hosted a ribbon cutting ceremony for a brand new 147,000 square foot K-8 school. The Town of Jonesborough received more than $42 million in Community Facilities loans to construct this new building. The new building features approximately 53 standard classrooms, several specialized classrooms such as labs, art rooms, music rooms, in addition to collaboration spaces including a cafeteria, media center, and gymnasium.

The old Jonesborough Elementary and Middle Schools were built in the 1970’s and would need significant modifications to meet classroom size requirements and teaching needs for the students of Jonesborough. According to the school and District Report Cards, both schools at the time of application in June 2020, were over capacity. 

The Town of Jonesborough and Washington County worked tirelessly for almost a year to create a plan that would allow the students of Jonesborough to benefit from a newly constructed school in Jonesborough that could meet the growing demands of education in the State of Tennessee. 

A USDA loan of $32,750,000 was approved in July 2020 at the height of the COVID pandemic. Despite numerous setbacks and time delays, the town was able to start school construction and site-work in the fall of 2021. By the time the design was approved, and cost estimates received, the school needed another $10 million due to increased construction costs affected by the pandemic. USDA then approved another loan in that amount in March 2022. Construction progressed timely, and students were able to move into the new building after the December 2023 Christmas Break. 

This new school, located off the main commercial corridor, now provides a new educational and athletic facility at an accessible location where traffic can be more easily controlled. The new facility will accommodate the enrollment trends, alleviate site constraints, provide a better educational environment for the students of Jonesborough, and meet the state average class size requirement. Despite facing numerous struggles throughout the pandemic, the Town of Jonesborough and all parties involved were able to overcome those obstacles and complete the project within three and half years from application. A monumental task that will no doubt benefit the residents of Jonesborough and Washington County for countless years to come. 

Obligation Amount: $42,750,000

Date of Obligation: July 10, 2020 | March 29, 2022

Congressional District: Rep. Diana Harshbarger, TN-01, Senators Marsha Blackburn and Bill Hagerty

Partners: Town of Jonesborough

Demographics: Washington County, Tenn.

Impact: The Jonesborough K-8 Elementary School is an essential community facility that will serve the citizens of Jonesborough for many years to come.

                                                  Story updated February 2024 ∙ USDA is an equal opportunity provider, employer, and lender.