CLARKSVILLE, TN (CLARKSVILLE NOW) – Educators and families came together Friday to welcome the new Kirkwood Middle School. The school is set to open for classes on Monday for its first half-day of the 2022-23 school year.

The school is at 2700 Rossview Road, and is part of a Clarksville-Montgomery County Schools campus that will grow to add a high school and elementary school. Around 1,000 students will be attending Kirkwood Middle, with just over 100 school administrators, faculty and staff, serving the 6th, 7th and 8th grades.

Parents and students attend the Cobra Tailgate event at the new Kirkwood Middle School, meeting with Clarksville-Montgomery County School System administrators, faculty, and staff on, Aug. 5, 2022. (Lee Erwin)
Parents and students attend the Cobra Tailgate event at the new Kirkwood Middle School, meeting with Clarksville-Montgomery County School System administrators, faculty, and staff on, Aug. 5, 2022. (Lee Erwin)
Parents and students attend the Cobra Tailgate event at the new Kirkwood Middle School, meeting with Clarksville-Montgomery County School System administrators, faculty, and staff on, Aug. 5, 2022. (Lee Erwin)
Parents and students attend the Cobra Tailgate event at the new Kirkwood Middle School, meeting with Clarksville-Montgomery County School System administrators, faculty, and staff on, Aug. 5, 2022. (Lee Erwin)
The school cafeteria at the Cobra Tailgate event at the new Kirkwood Middle School, as parents and students meet with Clarksville-Montgomery County School System administrators, faculty, and staff on, Aug. 5, 2022. (Lee Erwin)
Educators at the Cobra Tailgate event at the new Kirkwood Middle School, as parents and students meet with Clarksville-Montgomery County School System administrators, faculty, and staff on, Aug. 5, 2022. (Lee Erwin)
Parents and students attend the Cobra Tailgate event at the new Kirkwood Middle School, meeting with Clarksville-Montgomery County School System administrators, faculty, and staff on, Aug. 5, 2022. (Lee Erwin)
Parents and students attend the Cobra Tailgate event at the new Kirkwood Middle School, meeting with Clarksville-Montgomery County School System administrators, faculty, and staff on, Aug. 5, 2022. (Lee Erwin)
Parents and students attend the Cobra Tailgate event at the new Kirkwood Middle School, meeting with Clarksville-Montgomery County School System administrators, faculty, and staff on, Aug. 5, 2022. (Lee Erwin)
Parents and students attend the Cobra Tailgate event at the new Kirkwood Middle School, meeting with Clarksville-Montgomery County School System administrators, faculty, and staff on, Aug. 5, 2022. (Lee Erwin)
The Cobra Tailgate event at the new Kirkwood Middle School, as parents and students meet with Clarksville-Montgomery County School System administrators, faculty, and staff on, Aug. 5, 2022. (Lee Erwin)
The Cobra Tailgate event at the new Kirkwood Middle School, as parents and students meet with Clarksville-Montgomery County School System administrators, faculty, and staff on, Aug. 5, 2022. (Lee Erwin)
The Cobra Tailgate event at the new Kirkwood Middle School, as parents and students meet with Clarksville-Montgomery County School System administrators, faculty, and staff on, Aug. 5, 2022. (Lee Erwin)
The Cobra Tailgate event at the new Kirkwood Middle School, as parents and students meet with Clarksville-Montgomery County School System administrators, faculty, and staff on, Aug. 5, 2022. (Lee Erwin)
Parents and students attend the Cobra Tailgate event at the new Kirkwood Middle School, meeting with Clarksville-Montgomery County School System administrators, faculty, and staff on, Aug. 5, 2022. (Lee Erwin)
Parents and students attend the Cobra Tailgate event at the new Kirkwood Middle School, meeting with Clarksville-Montgomery County School System administrators, faculty, and staff on, Aug. 5, 2022. (Lee Erwin)
Parents and students attend the Cobra Tailgate event at the new Kirkwood Middle School, meeting with Clarksville-Montgomery County School System administrators, faculty, and staff on, Aug. 5, 2022. (Lee Erwin)
Parents and students attend the Cobra Tailgate event at the new Kirkwood Middle School, meeting with Clarksville-Montgomery County School System administrators, faculty, and staff on, Aug. 5, 2022. (Lee Erwin)
Parents and students attend the Cobra Tailgate event at the new Kirkwood Middle School, meeting with Clarksville-Montgomery County School System administrators, faculty, and staff on, Aug. 5, 2022. (Lee Erwin)
Parents and students attend the Cobra Tailgate event at the new Kirkwood Middle School, meeting with Clarksville-Montgomery County School System administrators, faculty, and staff on, Aug. 5, 2022. (Lee Erwin)
The Cobra Tailgate event at the new Kirkwood Middle School, as parents and students meet with Clarksville-Montgomery County School System administrators, faculty, and staff on, Aug. 5, 2022. (Lee Erwin)
The Say Cheese Please food truck at the Cobra Tailgate event at the new Kirkwood Middle School, as parents and students meet with Clarksville-Montgomery County School System administrators, faculty, and staff on, Aug. 5, 2022. (Lee Erwin)
The Cobra Tailgate event at the new Kirkwood Middle School, as parents and students meet with Clarksville-Montgomery County School System administrators, faculty, and staff on, Aug. 5, 2022. (Lee Erwin)
The Cobra Tailgate event at the new Kirkwood Middle School, as parents and students meet with Clarksville-Montgomery County School System administrators, faculty, and staff on, Aug. 5, 2022. (Lee Erwin)
Parents and students attend the Cobra Tailgate event at the new Kirkwood Middle School, meeting with Clarksville-Montgomery County School System administrators, faculty, and staff on, Aug. 5, 2022. (Lee Erwin)
Educators at the Cobra Tailgate event at the new Kirkwood Middle School, as parents and students meet with Clarksville-Montgomery County School System administrators, faculty, and staff on, Aug. 5, 2022. (Lee Erwin)
The Cobra Tailgate event at the new Kirkwood Middle School, as parents and students meet with Clarksville-Montgomery County School System administrators, faculty, and staff on, Aug. 5, 2022. (Lee Erwin)
Educators at the Cobra Tailgate event at the new Kirkwood Middle School, as parents and students meet with Clarksville-Montgomery County School System administrators, faculty, and staff on, Aug. 5, 2022. (Lee Erwin)
Parents and students attend the Cobra Tailgate event at the new Kirkwood Middle School, meeting with Clarksville-Montgomery County School System administrators, faculty, and staff on, Aug. 5, 2022. (Lee Erwin)
A classroom at the Cobra Tailgate event at the new Kirkwood Middle School, as parents and students meet with Clarksville-Montgomery County School System administrators, faculty, and staff on, Aug. 5, 2022. (Lee Erwin)
A classroom at the Cobra Tailgate event at the new Kirkwood Middle School, as parents and students meet with Clarksville-Montgomery County School System administrators, faculty, and staff on, Aug. 5, 2022. (Lee Erwin)
Parents and students attend the Cobra Tailgate event at the new Kirkwood Middle School, meeting with Clarksville-Montgomery County School System administrators, faculty, and staff on, Aug. 5, 2022. (Lee Erwin)

Friday, parents and students met with CMCSS administration, faculty and staff to tour and learn more about the school in an open house event with tours, food trucks and vendors that was called the Cobra Tailgate. The school will be the home of the Kirkwood Cobras.

“This school is very important and has been in the works for many years to address the rapid growth we are experiencing in Clarksville-Montgomery County,” said CMCSS spokesman Anthony Johnson.

Johnson added that Kirkwood High is under construction and is scheduled to open in 2023-24 for the next school year, with the elementary school projected at this time to open two years after the high school.

Lorneth Peters’ son, 12-year-old Elijah, will be a 7th grader at Kirkwood. “The new school is a dream come true. I know we’ve been waiting on this for a long time and now it’s here, and it’s great to see the faces of all the parents and kids walking in to see this new facility,” Peters said.