Wilson County Schools breaks ground Tuesday, Oct. 13, on a new $60 million Watertown Middle School, replacing an aging campus whose gymnasium is believed to date to 1937.

The ceremony begins at 6 p.m. at 9560 Sparta Pike in Watertown, near Watertown High School. Director of Schools Travis Mayfield and the Wilson County Board of Education invited the community to attend, according to the Wilson County Source.

The new school is projected for completion by July 2028, in time for the 2028-29 academic year, the Tennessean reported July 24.

The district sent a survey to Watertown-area families asking about the community's greatest need. "The overwhelming feedback on it was, yeah, we would like to see a new middle school," Bart Barker, Wilson County Schools public information officer, told WKRN in June when the board approved the construction bid.

The current building is a former high school. Parts of the campus are decades old, with a gymnasium believed to date to the 1930s. Barker told WKRN that generations of Watertown families attended the school, some tracing their connection back to great-grandparents.

The replacement will be "much like the style of our newer builds," Barker told the Tennessean. Plans call for updated classrooms, athletic fields, a greenhouse and a certified storm shelter. The project will not add capacity to the district. It replaces the existing school in a new location on Sparta Pike.

Mayfield took over as director for the 2026-27 school year, replacing retired Jeff Luttrell. He inherits a growing district. Wilson County Schools projected 20,444 students in kindergarten through 12th grade for 2026-27, an increase of 387 from the prior year, the Tennessean reported July 31.

Watertown Middle is the latest in a district construction pipeline that has also built Mt. Juliet-area schools. Green Hill High opened in 2020, West Wilson Middle in 2024 and Central Pike Elementary opened in August.

The Wilson County Board of Education meets Thursday, Oct. 15, at 6 p.m. at the BOE Administrative and Training Complex, 415 Harding Drive in Lebanon.