Skip to content
Menu

Echo Hill  Elementary

School History

History

From 2003 to 2008 students, at what would eventually become Echo Hill Elementary, got their start at Oak Ridge School when it housed students in Kindergarten through 8th grade.   

Echo Hill Elementary opened August 20, 2008 under the leadership of Principal Dan Ludwig with a staff of 67 and 529 students.

The school is named after an area about a half-mile west of the current building that played a key role in space exploration in the 1950s and 60s. Several large satellite dishes were placed on a ridge, known as Echo Hill, where Collins Radio (now Rockwell Collins) engineers, first bounced a video image off the moon in the 1950s.

The location was considered far enough out of town to help minimize electrical interference, but close enough that it could be linked to the Collins (now Rockwell) buildings on Collins Road.

The new school opened with 24 classrooms (four sections for each grade level), a science room, an art/music room and 10 support rooms. In addition to the classrooms, the school housed a gym and a cafeteria/multi-purpose room with a built-in stage.

  • 2006 – A $27.5 million bond issue was passed to build two new elementary schools (Echo Hill Elementary and Linn Grove Elementary)
  • 2006 – Echo Hill Elementary School construction begins
  • 2008 – Construction completed — students K-5 moved from Oak Ridge (K-8)
  • 2008 – Echo Hill Elementary School opens August 20

Today

Principal CJ McDonald and a staff of 79 are dedicated to the educational development of more than 500 students in grades PK-4.