MARTINSVILLE — Four schools which have served the Martinsville School District for decades will soon ring their final bell. Two schools in Martinsville and two others in unincorporated Morgan County will shut down after the 2026-2027 school year.
The Metropolitan School District of Martinsville confirmed Centerton Elementary, Green Township Elementary, Poston Road Elementary, and the Charles L. Smith Fine Arts Academy will close. They will consolidate in a brand new elementary school under construction between Centerton and Green Township.
In a statement, the school district said it is closing the schools because all four were built before the 1960s and are showing their age in both function and maintenance.
MSD of Martinsville's statement said:
"The cost of maintaining and operating multiple aging facilities continues to grow, far exceeding the long-term cost of building and operating a new, more efficient school."
Poston Road and Charles L. Smith are both within Martinsville city limits. Centerton and Green Township are located in their namesake communities, with Centerton best known as the alma mater of legendary college basketball coach John Wooden.
Robyn Thompson is a Green Township alumnus who lives across the street from the rural elementary school on her family farm. She believes the experience at Green Township is irreplaceable across the district.
"I went to school there, my mother went to school there, my grandmother went to school there," Thompson said. "That class reunion where my graduating high school class got together, the Green Township kids all wanted to get their own picture. That said everything to me."
Thompson said she and her classmates are upset with how fast the consolidation plan has moved along, but are doing their best to adjust to Martinsville's strategy.
"It just makes you feel sad," Thompson said. "Some of us get it, and I kind of get it, but it still doesn't make it easy to accept."
The new replacement school, which does not have a name yet, is scheduled to open for the 2027-2028 school year.
