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9 new schools ready for the first bell

This school year, about 6,000 Boise, Meridian and Nampa students get contemporary facilities built for improved learning

- Idaho Statesman

Published: 08/24/08

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ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

Boise

1. West Junior High

8371 W. Salt Creek St., Boise

854-6450

Principal: Maynard Spell

Cost: $21.5 million

Enrollment: 875

Mascot: Mustangs

What's special? West Junior High students will have uniforms for the first time this year.

How will the school improve education? The new West has two gyms, and has added outdoor recreation facilities like tennis and basketball courts.

2. South Junior High

3101 W. Cassia St., Boise

854-6110

Principal: Kathleen McCurdy

Cost: $25.6 million

Enrollment: 637

Mascot: Bobcats

What's special? The new South will include two gymnasiums and four tennis courts and an outdoor amphitheater created from an old wall from the former school building.

How will the school improve education? Computer access will be greatly enhanced, enabling the school to increase its computer and technology offerings.

"We just have an environment that tells our kids and our parents and neighborhood that the Boise District is investing in this area," McCurdy said. "This is an absolutely beautiful, state-of-the-art building."

3. Morley Nelson Elementary School

7701 W. Northview St., Boise

854-4610

Principal: Lisa Roberts

Cost: $10 million

Enrollment: 536

Mascot: Raptors

What's special? Morley Nelson is very similar to Grace Jordan in layout and in its offerings, which include an English Language Learner Program, extended resource room and developmental preschool.

How will the school improve education? Both new elementary schools include community centers, which Superintendent Stan Olson predicts will spur economic development in the neighborhood.

4. Grace Jordan Elementary School

6411 W. Fairfield Ave., Boise

854-5580

Principal: Tim Lowe

Cost: $11.2 million

Enrollment: 515

Mascot: Jaguars

What's special? Like Morley Nelson, Grace Jordan will have a Just for Kids day care program at the school in addition to a city-run community center. The community center will be available to students in grades 4-6 every day after school.

How will the new school improve education? Like Morley Nelson, this school will try to bring the community together with a community center.

5. Frank Church High School

8051 W. Salt Creek Court, Boise

854-5650

Principal: Robert Thompson

Cost: $15.3 million

Enrollment: 449

Mascot: Cougars

What's special? The new school consolidates students in grades 9-12 from the former Mountain Cove and Fort Boise schools into one location on the other side of town, closer to where the bulk of the district's alternative high school students live.

How will the new school improve education? Frank Church is now next to the district's Dennis Technical Education Center.

"If we can engage (students) in those pro-tech classes starting as a sophomores, by the time they graduate from Frank Church as seniors, they'll have a big chunk of their associates degree completed," said Thompson. "Being able to locate all these services and programs in one location is very efficient."

MERIDIAN

1. Rocky Mountain High School

5450 Linder Road, Meridian

350-4340

Principal: Mike Hirano

Cost: $54 million

Enrollment: 1,400

Mascot: Grizzlies

What's special? A pre-engineering program and artificial turf on the athletic field.

How will the school improve education? By being a professional learning community where teachers will collaborate and and take a whole team approach to teaching kids.

2. Siena K-8

2870 East Rome Drive, Meridian

350-4370

Principal: Kacey Schneidt

Cost: $12.2 million

Enrollment: 570

Mascot: Stallions

What's special? Siena will have a small, magnet middle school that begins with sixth-graders this year and will build to eighth grade. It will have about 270 students compared to the nearly 1,000 student at some other Meridian middle schools.

How will the school improve education? Teachers will meet weekly to review learning data from students and make required changes in teaching to help students succeed. The school could require additional instruction in subjects or use volunteers to help students improve.

NAMPA

1. Lake Ridge Elementary School

615 Burke Lane, Nampa

468-4626

Principal: Nancy Chopko

Cost: $10.8 million

Enrollment: 323

Mascot: Leopards

What's special? Lake Ridge Elementary will be a caring community where all students will be taught the virtues of respect, patience, self-discipline, tolerance and a joy for learning, says principal Nancy Chopko

How will the school improve education? There will be an emphasis on writing across all content areas with students developing portfolios.

2. Lone Star Middle School

11055 Lone Star Road, Nampa

468-4745

Principal: Greg Wiles

Cost: $23.5 million

Enrollment: 687

Mascot: Longhorns

What's special? It is Nampa's first middle school to have two stories. The building is designed so each grade level has its own area, and one section of the building is dedicated to electives.

How will the school improve education? It will create a small feel within a large school. That small community sense is important for middle school students so they will feel like they belong to a group instead of feeling like they are just part of a big building.

Nampa

1. Lake Ridge Elementary School

615 Burke Lane, Nampa

468-4626

Principal: Nancy Chopko

Cost: $10.8 million

Enrollment: 323

Mascot: Leopards

How will the school improve education? There will be an emphasis on writing across all content areas with students developing portfolios.

2. Lone Star Middle School

11055 Lone Star Road, Nampa

468-4745

Principal: Greg Wiles

Cost: $23.5 million

Enrollment: 687

Mascot: Longhorns

What's special? It is Nampa's first middle school to have two stories. The building is designed so each grade level has its own area, and one section of the building is dedicated to electives.

Meridian

1. Rocky Mountain High School

5450 Linder Road, Meridian

350-4340

Principal: Mike Hirano

Cost: $54 million

Enrollment: 1,400

Mascot: Grizzlies

What's special? A pre-engineering program and artificial turf on the athletic field.

How will the school improve education? By being a professional learning community where teachers will collaborate and and take a whole team approach to teaching kids.

2. Siena K-8

2870 East Rome Drive, Meridian

350-4370

Principal: Kacey Schneidt

Cost: $12.2 million

Enrollment: 570

Mascot: Stallions

NAMPA

1. Lake Ridge Elementary School

615 Burke Lane, Nampa

468-4626

Principal: Nancy Chopko

Cost: $10.8 million

Enrollment: 323

Mascot: Leopards

How will the school improve education? There will be an emphasis on writing across all content areas with students developing portfolios.

2. Lone Star Middle School

11055 Lone Star Road, Nampa

468-4745

Principal: Greg Wiles

Cost: $23.5 million

Enrollment: 687

Mascot: Longhorns

What's special? It is Nampa's first middle school to have two stories. The building is designed so each grade level has its own area, and one section of the building is dedicated to electives.

A new alternative high school opening in Boise this week could redefine the way struggling students get a diploma in Idaho.

In Meridian School District, students will attend two new schools, but administrators are looking hard for ways to keep up with growth while not going back to taxpayers for more construction bonds.

As the school bell rings in the new academic year, nine new schools are opening in the Treasure Valley, signaling the impact of growth and an overhaul of aging school facilities in several school districts.

Cost to taxpayers: About $184 million. Estimated number of students in the new schools: Nearly 6,000

Some will incorporate the latest teaching techniques, focusing their instructor teams on lagging students.

One will boast an athletic field with artificial turf. Yet another will house a small middle school for kids who aren't comfortable with large middle schools.

Read about the Treasure Valley's new schools and how they will help educate your kids on Main 3.

THE BIGGEST OPENING DAY EVER FOR BOISE SCHOOL DISTRICT

This first day of school is a huge one for Boise: five brand-new school buildings are opening.

The schools were built after district voters approved a $94 million bond in March 2006 to replace or renovate aging buildings - some more than a century old. West Junior High was rebuilt five miles to the west; South was rebuilt next to its existing building. Four elementary schools - Cole, Jackson, Franklin and McKinley - closed last spring and were replaced by two new, larger schools that opened this month: Grace Jordan and Morley Nelson Elementary Schools. Frank Church High School will replace Mountain Cove and Fort Boise schools.

Next year, a new East Junior High will open in a new location, and Whitney Elementary School is being rebuilt on a neighboring site.

Meanwhile, older students speaking foreign languages have been moved from Riverglen and Fairmont Junior high schools to a new language academy that will house about 200 students at the former Jackson Elementary School. The school has been renamed the Boise Language Academy, and this year, it will house a professional-technical program and immigrant and refugee students in grades seven through 12. Eleven full-time teachers will teach English through grade-level content, said Ann Farris, who is in charge of programs for foreign students at the district.

Morley Nelson and Grace Jordan schools were already full last spring. And Superintendent Stan Olson said he thinks the new schools will stimulate economic growth in their neighborhoods.

"One of the problems in some of the buildings will be overcrowding," Olson said this month, adding that real estate brokers had told him that home-buyers appeared to be attracted by the new schools. "It kind of sparks residential interest and commercial interest."

A large change will happen at Frank Church High School, where the school day will be extended to 9 p.m. to accommodate high school students who want to take extra classes so they can graduate more quickly and alternative students who work full-time and have trouble fitting into a regular school schedule.

"It's a great way for kids in our program to catch up, and a great way for students who are ready to move ahead quicker to get extra credits and help them graduate early," said Frank Church Principal Robb Thompson.

MERIDIAN RETHINKS WAYS TO HANDLE GROWTH

Meridian School District officials are rethinking how to make room for a growing number of students that could save taxpayers money on school construction bonds.

For 14 years, school administrators have come to taxpayers for bonds about every two years to build more schools for a district that has grown to 33,000 students - a 27 percent jump since 2000.

Meridian still expects some growth, but has no immediate plans for bonds to build new schools.

The last two schools built with bond proceeds open this fall: Rocky Mountain High School at Linder Road near McMillan Road and Siena K-8 School south of I-84. Siena was constructed largely with money that came from investing bond funds before they were used for construction.

Now, the district is concentrating on filling low-enrollment schools by creating magnet programs that draw parents to those locations. One example is Christine Donnell School for the Arts, which had been a traditional elementary school with fewer than 300 students in the southern part of the district. When the building was transformed in 2004 - and turned into a kindergarten through eighth grade - enrollment shot to more than 500. The district has also redrawn some boundaries to bring more students into low-enrollment schools.

Meridian also is revamping McMillan Elementary into a school focusing on world cultures this year and Mandarin Chinese beginning in fall 2009

Meridian has created schools that include both elementary and middle school students - such as the Galileo Math and Science School - to take pressure off the need for new middle schools. Siena, for example, will eventually have 270 students in sixth through eighth grade.

Meridian also is creating a magnet high school at its district office in the former Jabil Circuit building, which it purchased in 2006. Renaissance High School, which already does some professional-technical education, will include a culinary program. The school also will have an international baccalaureate curriculum focused on international students, a pre-law program and a research and medical science program. The academic portion of the school is expected to open in fall 2009 with ninth and 10th grade.

Eventually, the school should grow to about 720 students, easing the pressure on Meridian District's other high schools, especially Mountain View, which has about 2,100 students.

Much of the money to pay for the magnet schools is coming through a plant facilities levy that will go to $20 million this year.

But Meridian District's new approach likely has postponed the need for a new $20 million middle school and a new $50 million high school for several years, said Linda Clark, district superintendent.

GROWTH DRIVES NAMPA SCHOOL BUILDINGS

Two new schools in Nampa School District are the direct result of growth in the region over the past several years.

Lone Star Middle School and Lake Ridge Elementary aren't the last of the schools the district will build. A new elementary, planned for either the west or southeast part of the district, could be built in the near future. The district could decide the location in the next couple of months, said Harmon Hurren, district chief of operations.

But after that elementary school is built, construction could cool off for a while in Nampa. The district, with about 14,500 students, has projected little enrollment growth this year. Taxpayers may not see another bond for a couple of years, Hurren said. "Not until this growth picks up again."

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