Dr. Culver has introduced a new twist in his "Inspired" blog. He calls it "Did You Know". We think there's a few other things you did not know, but perhaps should. Seeing as the district is desperately seeking to launch plans to build an 8th elementary school, we thought it fitting to give you a behind the curtain look at capacity.Did You Know:
- That the average "class" size (one grade level) is 499, with a range of 448 (8th grade) to 548 (Kindergarten)?
- That the capacity we build elementary schools for is also 500?
- That the national median (most common) size for elementary schools is 600
- That the 7 elementary schools (K-5) are at 85.5% capacity for the 2011-12 school year?
- That the 2 middle schools (Gr 6-7) are at 64.6% capacity
- That the CHUMS building (Gr 8-9) is at 51.2% capacity
- That the high school (Gr 10-12) is at 67.8% capacity
- That the former Junior High School, now Prairie Phoenix Academy (Alternative High School) and which has a capacity for at least 500 kids has only approximately 80 students?
- That Creekside, the newest elementary school has the lowest number of kids at 364?
- That Creekside is at 70% capacity while Horizon (about 2.5 miles away as the crow flies), which is the 2nd newest elementary school is at 99% capacity?
- That Horizon and Eastside elementary each have 510 kids (3rd Friday count) yet Eastside has 27,000 less square footage?
- That the total of all elementary school kids in the district grew 39% from 2001-02 to 2011-12, yet the UW APL estimates (if you believe them) that the growth will be even greater (42%) over the NEXT 10 years (2011-12 to 2021-22)?
Kinda makes ya wonder about...perhaps...whether Smith's Crossing was the best location for the 7th elementary school (Creekside)? Or (ouch) whether the last elementary school boundary change made the most sense? Or whether we really need to build a new elementary schools...rather than making use of existing capacities?
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