Snoqualmie Middle School (SMS) will close at the end of this school year and be converted into Mount Si High School’s Freshman Campus in the fall of 2013.
In order to make that a reality, current Snoqulamie Middle School students need to be relocated to either Chief Kanim or Twin Falls Middle School. In order to make that happen, new middle school attendance boundary lines must be drawn through the City of Snoqualmie.
This afternoon, October 9th, the Snoqualmie Valley School District announced the five boundary change options that will finalize the conversion SMS to a 9th grade campus next fall.
District officials stated at the beginning of this process that they are very aware boundary changes are never easy, calling them a “very challenging process” last month.
Executive Director of Technology Services, Jeff Hogan, said at a September school board meeting that the district strives to bring “compassion to the process.”
Here are the 5 Snoqualmie Middle School Boundary Change Options:
Here is the timeline for the 2012 Middle School Boundary Study, according to SVSD Website, some date are approximate:
- October 9 – Release initial draft boundary options
- October 9-16 – Open online Survey #1 to collect public feedback on five boundary options
- October 19 – Announce short list of boundary options, if necessary
- October 19-25 – Open online Survey #2 for public feedback on remaining options
- October 22 – Community meeting to review options and gather feedback (6:00pm @ MSHS)
- October 23 – Community meeting to review options and gather feedback (6:00pm @ CKMS)
- October 24 – Online E-Meeting to review options and gather feedback (6:30pm E-Meeting)
- October 30 – Board meeting: Recommendation on attendance boundary to Board and opportunity for citizen comment
- November 8 – Board meeting: Board adoption of new middle school boundary
For more information on the middle school boundary change process visit the SVSD Middle School Boundary Study webpage.
Comments
Wow. Didn’t realize how much the choices would bug me. I literally don’t like ANY of the options.
Any chance they will realize we DO NOT need a 9th grade campus and DO NEED 3 middle schools and scrap this whole crazy thing??
Probably wishful thinking Amy. Not sure of protocol.. if board can change its mind at this point, even if it wanted to.
Far too logical Amy! 😉
This was sent to me by another parent :
After taking a more detailed look at all the redistricting options, my vote is still NO on all of them. According to the population numbers on the district websites – SMS has about 460 students. There are no details about which elementary schools those children came from. However, based on the fact that there are currently four 5th grade classes at CVES and it appears three 5th grade classes at SES that will feed into SMS next fall – I am estimating that about 270 of the 460 students are from CVES and 190 of the 460 students are from SES. From a simple numbers look, if you took the 270 students from CVES and sent them all to CKMS that would be 715 students (based on the current 445 listed on the district website). If you took the other 190 from SES and sent them all to TFMS that would be 751 students (based on the current 561 listed on the district website). Those simple number totals seem reasonable to me and fairly evenly divided considering you are dividing five elementary schools into two middle schools. While I understand that part of the plan includes not moving current CKMS and TFMS students from their current schools (and I completely agree with that), I have a hunch that there are parents in the Deer Park neighborhood of Snoqualmie Ridge who would prefer that their NBES students flow into TFMS with the rest of their classmates as opposed to flowing into CKMS as they do now, possibly grandfathering in the current students and then flowing the younger students into TFMS. From a neighborhood flow perspective, that makes more sense as well.
It is my understanding that part of the reasoning behind the proposed divisions is based on household income and not wanting to create a disparity between the middle schools with PTSA’s not being able to support various enhancements to the students’ education. I also understand that the bulk of higher earners is on the Ridge. However, the Ridge has already been divided into three elementary schools, which has already divided the income. It will continue to be divided between two middle schools as well. Because of that, I do not agree with that line of reasoning.
Again, as a former middle school teacher, I am extremely concerned about that age group. My children currently attend CVES and all of these options break up the CVES friendship bonds that we have worked so hard to form – both among the children and among the parents, our support systems – just as they enter what I consider the most challenging years of their lives, middle school. This is NOT in the best interest of CVES children., just like it has not been in the best interest of the NBES children to divide them into two middle schools. All students from CVES should go to one middle school as should SES students and NBES students – just like Fall City Elementary and Opstad Elementary students do. Study after study have shown that supportive RELATIONSHIPS with caring adults and peers is a big indicator of academic success. To break up those relationships by busing students to opposite ends of the district puts our students at an immediate disadvantage both socially and academically.
I strongly urge you to reconsider all redistricting options because none of them are a good choice for the well-being of our students. All students from each individual elementary school should stay together and flow to the same middle school. If that means moving more portables to either Chief Kanim Middle School or Twin Falls Middle School, then so be it. I will support nothing less than that.
I look forward to hearing how all of this is addressed at the upcoming meetings.
The kids who currently attend SES and go to CKMS are children in the Heights neighborhood, not Deer Park who was affected by the last boundary change and went thru all the things you mentioned you are concerned about. I understand your concerns because we went thru it all just two years ago when my daughter was moved to NBE. It was hard, probably more so on me than her after the first week – because as you say, I lost my support system. I understand all your concerns because we lived them. From what I have heard from the district, one of their main goals is to disrupt the least amount of kids in their established learning environment, which I believe is why they are trying to do this without moving kids already established at CKMS and TFMS.