GRAMBLING, LA. (KTVE/KARD) — Since 2020, Lincoln Preparatory School has been without a permanent place to call their own. This week, that changed when the school’s elementary students had their first day of class in the new $30 million, 100,000 square foot building. Gordan Ford, Lincoln Prep’s Executive Director, shared more about the journey this has been for the school.

“We were out of the building because of rulings in a desegregation case from 1960s that said that we had to separate from Grambling State University, and so the school has been a part of the university since its inception and because of that ruling, we had to move the school off of the university campus. Once we were coming out of COVID, we were working on temporary facilities that weren’t quite ready yet and so we rented space from the movie theater, we borrowed spaces from churches, we put kids everywhere we could find a classroom until we got temporary space down at the Grambling junction. We’ve been there since then, operating in a permanent former Fred’s building we renovated and some modular buildings that we leased.”

On Tuesday, March 15, 2023, the school’s 1st-4th grades began classes with middle schoolers scheduled to come a week after, and high schoolers a week after that. A couple of the elementary students told us more about their excitement for the new space.

“I just want to say it’s the only school and the best school I’ve ever been,” said 3rd grader, Cassahn Jones.

Fourth grader, Mason Turner, said, “It’s fun being over here, it’s more space. it’s the best school.”

Up next for the school is finishing construction on their gymnasium and football field, and moving onto creating their baseball and softball fields.