Alameda area schools look at shifting boundaries - #lakewoodnews

Students at Belmar Elementary School may not know where their future lies, but they now know the path will take them through Lakewood High School if the school board approves in November.

During a meeting of the school's accountability committee on Sept. 6, parents decided the school should change from splitting its articulation area between Lakewood High School and Alameda International High School to only Lakewood.

"We're here to get insight from parents on what they'd like to see for their kids," said Terry Elliott, Jeffco's chief school effectiveness officer. "Some schools in the area are going to see some changes in their articulation, while others will see boundary changes."

The changes are the result of the plannedreopening of Rose Stein International Elementary in the fall of 2017, which has been closed since 2014. It is not part of the district's bond measure.

In the spring of 2014, the county approved a $1.1 million plan to combine Alameda's International Baccalaureate (IB) program with O'Connell's IB Middle Years program, creating a 7-12 school at Alameda, moving Stein students to O'Connell and emptying Stein.

The plan has always been to reopen Stein (now named Rose Stein), and that reopening means changes for area schools, since it will be an option for families again. This will affect student populations at area middle and high schools.

The district is hosting a series of meetings in September at area schools to address these changes. Only the articulation area for Belmar and Kendrick Lake Elementary schools are changing, which makes the meetings relatively simple, Elliott said. The more involved meetings will be at Lasley, Deane and Emory, where the boundaries actually change.

As Elliott explained it, Belmar has historically been a split feeder, meaning families in the eastern articulation area went on to O'Connell and Alameda, and those in the west went to Creighton Middle School and Lakewood. He gave families at the meeting three options --; make the entire area a feeder for one of the two high schools, or keep things as they have been.

"Traditionally Belmar has been closely tied with Lakewood High School," said Belmar principal Meredith Leighty. "I don't have any preference, but we have a great relationship with Lakewood."

One thing parents had to consider is the possibility down the road that Creighton might become a sixth-through-eighth middle school. Elliott said that would not happen until possibly 2020, if it happens at all.

"About 75 percent of sixth-grade students in the country go to middle schools instead of elementary," he told the parents. "One of the things we hear from principals with all three years is the students have a greater buy-in to the school and programs."

By using open enrollment, the bulk of Belmar's more than 300 students go the Lakewood route, so the choice was a relatively easy one for the parents. If others want their children to go the Alameda route, they can also use open enrollment.

"I'm trying to get more involved in the community," said Jody Romero, a Belmar Elementary parent. "I'm happy to see a respectful, thoughtful group that has meaningful conversations."

After all the meetings are done, Jeffco staff will take the recommendations to the school board at the Oct. 16 meeting. From there, the board will consider and make a decision at the first meeting of November.

"The fact is all Jeffco Schools are great schools," Leighty said. "There really wasn't a bad option here."

from Lakewood Sentinel - Latest Stories http://lakewoodsentinel.com/stories/Alameda-area-schools-look-at-shifting-boundaries,235169