The long-talked-about future of Altruria Elementary is finally starting to take shape. Bartlett City Schools unveiled early designs this week for a new campus to replace the aging building on Deermont Drive, telling parents they hope to have students in a new facility by the start of the calendar year 2028.
The district rolled out the plans at a public meeting on March 12 inside Altruria’s gym, giving families a first look at renderings and a rough timeline for what could be one of Bartlett’s biggest school projects in years.
Early Designs Go Public
According to Daily Memphian, Superintendent David A. Stephens stood alongside representatives from Linkous Construction and 4FDesign as they walked the crowd through preliminary schematics. Officials emphasized that the drawings are early concepts meant to help shape the budget, invite community feedback, and guide the approval process, not final blueprints.
Who Altruria Serves Right Now
Altruria Elementary currently serves pre-K through fifth grade and enrolled about 730 students in the 2024–25 school year. The school is located at 6641 Deermont Drive, according to the National Center for Education Statistics’ school directory.
Why Bartlett Says It Is Time To Replace The School
District leaders say the existing building is deteriorating and past the point where patchwork fixes make sense. A recent facilities assessment and multi-year capital plan flagged Altruria, along with nearby Ellendale, as among Bartlett’s oldest campuses and in greatest need of attention. As the Shelby County Chamber Alliance reported, both schools date back to the mid-1970s and were elevated as priorities for long-term investment.
The Team Behind The New Campus
Linkous Construction, a Memphis-based general contractor, is teaming up with 4FDesign, the project’s architect. 4FDesign previously worked on major upgrades at Bartlett High School, and Linkous highlights multiple education projects in its portfolio, so both firms are already familiar names in local school construction circles.
Timeline, Funding And The Unknowns
BCS officials told attendees they are aiming to open the new Altruria campus in early 2028, although they stopped short of sharing a final budget or step-by-step construction plan. According to the Daily Memphian, district leaders have previously discussed various capital-improvement funding options that could help support large undertakings such as a full school replacement.
What Bartlett Families Should Watch For Next
Next up, district staff will refine the design based on feedback, then return to the school board for formal approvals and funding decisions. A detailed construction schedule and a plan for where students will go during the building phase are still to come.
Parents and community members are being told to keep an eye on the Bartlett City Schools website for official updates, future public meetings, and any decisions that could affect enrollment zones or daily routines at Altruria in the years leading up to 2028.
