MADISON, Miss. (WLBT) - The first full week of school in the new year is in a new modern facility for students of the Magnolia Speech School. Sixty-five children are walking the new hallways, entering new classrooms, and getting accustomed to a different learning environment.

Magnolia Speech School has moved to a new location in Madison on Bozeman Road, offering students with communication disorders the latest in technology.

“Just giving our children hope to learn, to be able to communicate, to be able to survive in the world,” said Listening and Spoken Language teacher Ami Hall.

She is delighted to make the transition to the new 30,000-square-foot school, where students will have more space and new technology like this clear-touch interactive panel. However, the hope is that children with hearing loss, dyslexia, and other communication disorders won’t be here long.

“Our ultimate goal is to get them in here and get them out as fast as we can,” said Hall. “So we try to get them into their public school or their home school of their choice, whatever parents decide for them, as fast as we can.”

Six-year-old Gaby Mazy wears hearing aids and will go to a new school at the end of the year.

“I like the new class, and I have a new desk,” said Mazy. “I want to be a doctor.”

The new school is equipped with a therapeutic clinic and labs, secured entrances, and acoustic panels and installation to keep noise at a minimum.

“This was not one person designing a school. This was multiple people — teachers, parents, grandparents, architects, our construction company. Everybody, they’ve just known what a special project this is,” said Magnolia Speech School Executive Director Valerie Linn.

Donors have raised over $11 million for the $13 million facility. For more information or if you would like to help, go to www.magnoliaspeechschool.org or www.buildinghopemss.com.

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