About this gallery
Dune Lakes Elementary School on Hwy 98 just east of Peach Creek is scheduled to open Fall 2019. It is the first elementary school built in South Walton County in more than 20 years. The project has been in the works for more than three years. Interior murals are comprised in part of photography by Kurt Lischka of Moon Creek Studios / SoWal.com. Kurt has a gallery showcasing his work in Grayton Beach at Grayton Beach Plaza on Hwy 283 just north of Scenic 30A at the main Grayton intersection (map).
There were 8,822 public school students in Walton County in 2016-17. So far this year there are more than 9,100 students, and that number is expected to grow. Bay Elementary (one of the two elementary schools in South Walton) has 15 portable classrooms that are being removed and the old building will be converted to a Preschool. The addition of a third school will help ease the overcrowding. Dune Lakes Elementary is being built by Childers Construction Co. on 33.5 acres, 6.5 miles east of Hwy 331. It will be part of an overall complex that will eventually include a community sports park to the north and a mixed-use housing and commercial development to the west.
The $35 million project will consist of 150,000 square feet with 59 classrooms that can accommodate 1,012 students. The school will hold traditional elementary grades K-5.