Students and visitors who want to come to school from the front entrance will have to take a different path this semester. 

Construction of the new, secure entry at Mexico High School is still underway and classes resumed Tuesday. District Superintendent Troy Lentz said that despite construction, students and their families got a feel for what the new foot-traffic patterns looked like right before graduation, so there shouldn’t be too many surprises, and the circle drive remains open for now. 

Those looking to get to the front office this year will have to go in through the east tower entrance near Emmons Hall and the gates around the construction site are adorned with signs that guide students and visitors to the temporary entrance.

The project is part of the ongoing work funded by the $21 million no tax-rate increase Paws for Progress bond issue, which Audrain County voters approved in 2024. Plans include the construction of a new entryway equipped with surveillance cameras and administrative offices. The original, centrally located office space will be primarily dedicated to counseling and other student support services. 

During its March meeting, the Mexico School District board of education awarded the project, which also includes the renovation of the existing offices, to Little Dixie Construction for $2,259,707.

Overseeing the project is Superintendent Tyler Prince, a Mexico High School class of 2021 graduate. After high school, Prince went on to play baseball for two years at St. Louis Community College - Meramec before transferring to Missouri S&T where he completed his civil engineering degree. Now he is back on old stomping grounds making improvements for the future generations of Bulldogs.

“It’s a great idea to bring everything up to the front,” Prince said. “I feel like it’s a typical thing that wasn’t done in the past, and it was definitely necessary.”

Prince explained that the project is close to halfway done, but the rainy summer did cause some delays. 

“It was pretty rough when we were digging our footings, but we got through it,” he said. 

With the steel beams in place and foundation poured, things will start speeding up. Framing on the exterior was able to begin Monday morning.

Lentz said he is excited to see the project progress and thinks the new entryway will be ready by January.

“It’s totally going to change the look of the building,” he said. 

Emmons is also getting some much-needed upgrades this summer that include a new curtain, 14-foot drop-down projector screen, and better sound equipment, which MHS Principal Brad Ellebracht is very excited about.

“Once you sit in the seats and listen to sound coming, it’s a whole different experience,” Ellebracht said.