Many parents in a fast-growing part of Madison County are relieved that a new school is on the way.

Hazel Green Middle School is headed to northern Madison County to address overcrowding.

Amy Cochran has lived in the area for 13 years. She’s had three boys graduate from the system, one in middle school and another in fifth grade.

She said she’s seen issues with overcrowding for years, especially in middle school. Cochran believes children will be safer in less crowded schools. She’s right, the National Library of Medicine published a report that school overcrowding is linked to increased bullying behavior.

“It’s too crowded, and those kids are on top of each other, and they fight more,” Cochran said. “If you’re uncomfortable, because you’re all kept in a hallway, you’re gonna have kids who fight. That’s just how it’s gonna go. And I’ve had one of mine beat up in the bathroom, so I’ve personally experienced bullying myself with my children, and it’s just going to be so great to be able to have those numbers shrunk down.”

The school will house 1,200 seventh and eighth graders. District 1 Madison County Board of Education member David Vess says they’re just trying to keep up with growth. He sees several new subdivisions in the area whenever he drives around.

“We’re busting at the seams in Hazel Green,” Vess said. “It’s what it boils down to. And we’ve got to make some room to accommodate that growth,”

The $53 million school will be on the same campus as Hazel Green High School. They will add a right turn lane towards Fayetteville to help with traffic leaving the campus.

Cochran and other parents say traffic is a huge concern. She said she knows county and school leaders are doing the best they can to help ease the roads. However, it takes her four times as long to arrive at the elementary school on a Monday morning than usual, plus she says carpool is chaotic and takes a long time to navigate through.

“They just don’t have enough room,” Cochran said. “No matter what they try, it still backs up and backs up and backs up and backs up, and then it backs up into the high school. I don’t know how they’re going to fix all the other traffic, because it is a mess.”

There will be some changes to other schools in the Hazel Green district. Meridianville Middle School will transition to an intermediate school for fifth and sixth grades. The district will add a new wing with 12 new classrooms to the growing Hazel Green High School.

It will all start with the new Hazel Green Middle School. It’s set to open for the 2027-2028 school year, and the groundbreaking will be later this month.