Lenoir County Public Schools made strides towards progress Monday when leaders from the school district, the town of La Grange and Lenoir County gathered to hold a groundbreaking program for the new E.B. Frink Middle School. 

Superintendent Brent Williams thanked all school, district, town, and county stakeholders for their hard work and advocacy in each of the many stages of the process of making this project a reality. 

“Today is a great day of celebration— a celebration not only of this exciting new project and the new school that will open in August 2026, but also it is an affirmation of the awe-inspiring potential of common goals and shared work within the context of the mutual admiration and respect of school and community stakeholders,” he said. 

The new Frink Middle School is a 57 million dollar facility that is paid for primarily through a North Carolina Needs-Based Facilities Grant administered through the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction. LCPS was awarded 52 million in NCDPI school construction funds and 1 million in project investment from the Lenoir County Board of Commissioners. LCPS is funding the remaining 4 million. 

“We are thankful that the funds from the combined funding model— the facilities grant, the funds from LCPS, and the remaining funds from our Board of Commissioners— will allow us to build the new E.B. Frink Middle School with absolutely no twenty-year bond debt like we have faced with every other school construction project. All construction costs will be paid in full by the time the school opens,” Superintendent Williams stated. 

Frink 2.0 will be built directly behind the current school, and will use the ballfields already there. Thanks to significant collaboration with the town of La Grange, LCPS is exchanging all of the buildings on the current property for the land required to build the new school.

“I want to thank everyone involved in the process of keeping E.B. Frink Middle School in La Grange. This is a very exciting time for our students and our citizens,” said town Mayor Bobby Wooten. 

The most significant construction work will be ongoing by March 2025, and the new and improved Frink Middle School is scheduled to be open for students come the start of the school year in the fall of 2026. 

"Investing in new infrastructure is investing in our students' futures,” said Rebecca McGann, the Public Information Officer for LCPS. “A modern learning environment fosters creativity, collaboration, and the tools they need to thrive. I am excited to see what our students can accomplish in the new facility.”