Lincoln Middle and Williams Elementary will merge into one $96 million K-8 campus by late 2029. Design input sessions: 6 p.m. Nov. 10 and Dec. 1 at Lincoln.
Lincoln Middle School will be rebuilt as a kindergarten-through-eighth-grade school for students from both Lincoln and Joseph Williams Elementary School. The two schools sit on neighboring properties in southeast Gainesville.
The School Board has budgeted $96 million for the project. It is expected to be finished in the fall or winter of 2029, according to an Alachua County Public Schools announcement published Thursday.
Families and neighbors get their first say on the design next month.
When and where to have your say
Both sessions are in the Lincoln Middle School auditorium, 1001 SE 12th St.:
| Session | Date | Time |
|---|---|---|
| First input session | Tuesday, Nov. 10 | 6 p.m. |
| Second input session | Tuesday, Dec. 1 | 6 p.m. |
Families, school staff and community members can attend one or both. Representatives from the district and from PBK Architects, the firm picked to design the campus, will take questions and ideas.
The district said there will also be:
- a third input session early next year
- an online survey for anyone who cannot attend in person
- a chance to review and comment on the preliminary design once it is drawn
Honoring two names
The district said the new campus will honor the legacy of two people:
- Joseph Williams, for whom the elementary school is named
- A. Quinn Jones, the first principal of what was then Lincoln High School
“We feel very fortunate to be part of the exciting work of revitalizing a campus with such a storied history,” said Chad Jones of PBK Architects, who will lead the design. “We look forward to hearing from people in the community and incorporating their stories and perspectives into our design.”
Jones also oversaw the revitalization of Westwood Middle School and Littlewood Elementary School, and the design of Santa Fe College’s Blount Center downtown, according to the district.
The two schools today
| Lincoln Middle | Williams Elementary | |
|---|---|---|
| Grades | 6 to 8 | Kindergarten to 5 |
| Students, 2023-24 | 697 | 458 |
| Florida school grade, 2026 | A | D |
Student counts are from the federal NCES school directory for Lincoln and Williams. Grades are from the Florida Department of Education’s 2026 school grades file. The district’s announcement does not say how many students the new campus will hold, or where students will attend class during construction.
What it means for you
- If your child attends Lincoln or Williams, this is the school they or their younger siblings may move into in late 2029. The input sessions are the place to ask about enrollment, the construction years and the timeline.
- If you can’t make a session, watch for the district’s online survey. We will add the link here when it is published.
- For zones, contacts and report cards, see our pages on Lincoln Middle, Williams Elementary and every Gainesville public school.
Have your say