Rapid growth in Madison County is bringing a new school to the area.

The Sparkman Intermediate School is being built in the northwest area of the county on McKee Road between Highway 53 and Jeff Road.

The school will open with approximately 800 students in its first school year of 2026-2027. The maximum capacity of 1,200 students is designed to handle continued growth in the area, including new subdivisions currently under construction.

The school will cost approximately $45 million.

First new school in 20 years

Madison County Board of Education District 4 member Heath Jones said the intermediate school has been in the works since he took office in 2022. He said this is the first new school in the district since the Sparkman Ninth Grade School 20 years ago.

“We knew that we were overcrowded at Madison Crossroads and Harvest Elementary School,” Jones said. “So we knew we needed some relief there. And so we started looking at some avenues and figured out that it would probably be best if we just go ahead and build a school to help with that overcrowding. And so we negotiated a few things and decided that the best route would be an intermediate that would take the fourth through sixth grade.”

Will new school require rezoning?

Fourth and fifth-graders from Madison Crossroads Elementary School and Harvest Elementary School, as well as sixth-graders from Sparkman Middle School, will all be in the new intermediate school. This structure ensures that the district will not have to rezone.

Lori Maghan has three children in the school district and has worked part-time as a nurse and substitute teacher. She says the new school is a necessity.

“Right now, our school (Madison Crossroads Elementary), and I think Harvest Elementary, are overcrowded,” Maghan said. “I don’t know what Harvest enrollment is, but at one point, we had hit over 900 students. I want to say we had over 1,000 students and we are not built for that. Madison Crossroads had to bring the portables. So we currently have four portable units.”

Jones said the new intermediate school will eliminate the need for the portables, or learning cottages, at Madison Crossroads. He said they’re owned by the school district, so they can be utilized at other schools if needed.

Traffic concerns

Maghan is excited for the new school, but she is wary of the increased traffic, because it’s close to all of the other schools.

“The only concern I have is traffic and the safety of the kids and the safety of travelers that are coming down Highway 53 because a lot of them don’t really pay attention,” Maghan said. “I think as long as the towns are able to address concerns about traffic and making sure kids are getting in safely, I think that’s not going to be a problem.”

Jones said three roundabouts are being built to help with traffic. The first roundabout is under construction at Wall Triana Hwy and McKee Rd. The others will be at Old Railroad Bed Rd and McKee Rd and Jeff Rd and McKee Rd.

They are expected to be complete by the time the school opens for the 2026-2027 school year.