Newnan High principal says new building is symbol of perseverance after EF-4 tornado

When Coweta County goes back to school on Thursday, students at Newnan High School will walk through the doors of their newly rebuilt school.

A half dozen structures, including the main building, were destroyed during an EF-4 tornado three years ago.

Channel 2′s Steve Gehlbach got a look inside the new school as it held orientation on Wednesday.

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“It definitely has the old main building feel, but 2024,” history teacher Katie Hammond said.

Hammond has her own history at the NHS. She graduated from the school and returned to teach at her alma mater. She remembers the tornado that hit the campus in 2021.

School officials made the tough decision to demolish the history 1950s main building. The rebuilt building will feature new classrooms, a huge cafeteria and a 800-seat auditorium.

“It’s going to be great, not only for the community, but for our staff and kids,” Principal Dr. Gamal Kemp said.

It’s full circle for Kemp, who is also a Newnan High alum. He is glad to return all 2,400 students back to the same campus after they spent the past two years away.

“Just how the teachers and the students persevered through that. We still has school, we had kids here and we worked through it,” he told Gehlbach.

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Another new addition: An entire bottom floor that is reenforced as a storm shelter that could withstand another tornado.

“From those doors all the way around to this hallway, there are no windows. There’s special ceiling where if floors collapse on the first and second, it won’t crush this area.”

It’s a new modern facility and a new chapter.

“It gives you hope. That anything you went through with community and all that. And we’re better than before…so it’s exciting,” Hammond said.

The total project cost $110 million from local, state and federal emergency funding along with insurance to cover the cost.

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Months after devastating tornado, Newnan High prepares for emotional 1st day back

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