School Boundary Shifts

  • Adjustments Take Effect Fall of 2022

    D49 will soon break ground on the new Elevation Middle School in the Sand Creek Zone, which will meet an immediate need for space in our rapidly growing district. Adding a new school in the near future requires intentional planning today, including identifying which schools will feed into it. To stay ahead of our growing neighborhoods, and to best meet the needs of our current and future families, we will begin some calculated modifications to some of our elementary school boundaries. These adjustments will allow D49 to maximize our campus capacity and support enrollment of the new middle school.

    What Does This Shift Look Like

    New school Boundaries map 2022As pictured, the boundary footprint for Stetson Elementary School will expand to Highway 24 (US-24). This adjustment extends the SES boundary through the current footprint for Inspiration View Elementary School, consisting of an area of largely undeveloped property. IVES’ attendance area will expand into a small portion of the current Falcon Elementary School of Technology boundary. In addition, the eastern boundary of Springs Ranch Elementary School extends east to Highway 24. It’s important to note these adjustments involve neighborhoods in early stages of development, and will have no impact for most families receiving this explanation.

    Will This Require Shifts for Students and Staff?

    The boundary shift will officially take effect as we begin the 2022 - 2023 school year and will have no immediate impact on our current school year. This adjustment will not require staff to shift assignments or location. All students will continue attending school, as usual, through the remainder of the ‘21 - ‘22 school year. Marking the boundary change now will do these things:

    • Raise awareness about the adjustment to current families and staff

    • Provide clear information to families who are settling into new neighborhoods and have children in D49 schools

    What's Next?

    Most of our families will not experience any change with this boundary shift. We’ve designed this transition to minimize overall impact, but it will include the following:

    • Stetson Elementary School (SES) will shift from the POWER Zone and become a Sand Creek Zone School.
    • This shift will have an immediate impact on families new to the district within the SES neighborhood.
    • Existing students in this boundary on track to attend middle and high school in the POWER Zone will have the opportunity to continue that path, while keeping in mind some important considerations, which are outlined in greater detail in the School Information section.

     

    Current Boundaries

    current bouddary map 

     

    Adjusted Boundaries

    boundary map option 1 

     

    The chart below presents the options for current middle and elementary school students in the Stetson Elementary School boundary area.

    Boundary info by cell

Helpful Links

March 2022 Update

D49 Chief Operations Officer Pedro Almeida gave an update on the timeline of school and zone boundary shifts to the Board of Education.

D49 BUILDING CAPACITY for MS

D49 Chief Operations Officer Pedro Almeida presented the topic of adding a middle school to the D49 portfolio of schools at the board of education meeting on Thursday, June 10, 2021. He begins discussing boundary shifts at the seven-minute mark.

PDF Presentation: D49 Building Capacity for Middle School Education

  • What the Boundary Shift Means For Students.

    Beginning in the fall of 2022, families living in the boundary area for Stetson Elementary School are now part of the Sand Creek Zone. Students in the SES boundary will attend Sand Creek Zone schools including Sand Creek High School (SCHS) and EMS once it opens. Current middle and high school students in this area may choose to continue their track at SMS and VRHS (POWER Zone), or attend Horizon Middle School (HMS) and SCHS (Sand Creek Zone).

    School Information

    Vista Ridge High School

    Students currently attending VRHS, and living in the SES boundary:

    NOW:

    1. Students are “zoned” to attend SCHS as their boundary high school beginning in the fall of 2022.
    2. Students may finish their track at VRHS, but will need to fill out a School of Choice application.
    3. We are guaranteeing that all SES boundary students attending VRHS may continue at VRHS through graduation. This is “guaranteed choice.”
    4. Because attendance at VRHS from the SES boundary is now a choice option, our policy and resource (driver and route) constraints direct that D49 will not provide bus service to VRHS from the SES boundary area.
    5. New residents, with no prior SMS or VRHS enrollment, will be enrolled at SCHS. Those students may apply for choice at VRHS, but there is no guarantee or priority for those applications.
    6. School of Choice information is available on the D49 website: https://www.d49.org/Page/70

    FUTURE:

    1. Current SMS 8th grade students (class of 2026) planning to attend VRHS in the fall of 2022 as expected, will receive “Guaranteed Choice” status, and will need to fill out a School of Choice application. 
    2. Current SMS 7th grade students (class of 2027) planning to attend VRHS in the fall of 2023 as expected, will receive “Guaranteed Choice” status, and will need to fill out a School of Choice application. 
    3. Current SMS 6th grade students (class of 2028) planning to attend VRHS in the fall of 2024 as expected, will receive “Guaranteed Choice” status, and will need to fill out a School of Choice application.
    4. School of Choice limitations at VRHS will apply for the class of 2029 forward.

    Skyview Middle School

    If you are currently attending SMS, and live in the SES boundary:

    NOW:

    1. You will continue to attend SMS.
    2. SMS transportation service will not change due to boundary changes.
    3. Students in the SES boundary are encouraged to apply for choice enrollment at Horizon Middle School (HMS). Students can attend HMS as a School of Choice, which would allow them to form early connections with the eventual EMS student population. Because the SES boundary will still be assigned to SMS in 22-23 and 23-24, D49 will not provide transportation from the SES boundary to HMS.

    FUTURE:

    1. Current SMS 8th grade students (class of 2026) planning to attend VRHS in the fall of 2022 as expected, will receive “Guaranteed Choice” status, and will need to fill out a School of Choice application. 
    2. Current SMS 7th grade students (class of 2027) planning to attend VRHS in the fall of 2023 as expected, will receive “Guaranteed Choice” status, and will need to fill out a School of Choice application. 
    3. Current SMS 6th grade students (class of 2028) planning to attend VRHS in the fall of 2024 as expected, will receive “Guaranteed Choice” status, and will need to fill out a School of Choice application.
    4. School of Choice information is available on the D49 website: https://www.d49.org/Page/70
    5. Once EMS opens, if you are a current SMS student, you can stay at SMS (through guaranteed choice) or move to EMS.
    6. Once EMS opens, even if you stay at SMS, high school students in the SES boundary will automatically be enrolled at EMS/SCHS, but will have “priority”, or “guaranteed” School of Choice status for VRHS depending on their graduating class.  
    7. Once EMS opens, there will be School of Choice limits for SMS. 
    8. Once EMS opens, there will be no transportation to SMS from the SES area (based on current transportation resource constraints).  

    Stetson Elementary School

    If you are currently attending SES, and live in the SES boundary:

    NOW:

    1. You will continue to attend SES.
    2. SES will now be part of the Sand Creek Zone. 
    3. SES transportation service will not change due to boundary changes.
    4. SES students will transition to SMS (automatically) or choice to HMS. 

    FUTURE:

    1. Once EMS opens, SES students will transition to EMS 
    2. Once EMS opens, if families want to stay at SMS or HMS, they may wish to apply for School of Choice to allow siblings to remain in the same middle school. Applications to SMS will have priority status, but will not be guaranteed. 


    Elevation Middle School

    If you live in the EMS boundary: 

    1. Currently planned to open in the fall of 2024.
    2. SES students will transition to EMS.
    3. Springs Ranch Elementary School students will transition to EMS.
    4. Students attending SMS will be allowed to apply for choice at SMS or move to EMS, but they will still transition to SCHS. 
    5. New students who did not attend SMS in SY23/24 will be enrolled in EMS.
    6. Transportation will be provided for EMS students. 
    7. There will be no transportation to SMS from the SES area once EMS opens (based on current transportation resource constraints). 

    Horizon Middle School

    1. Current students in the SES boundary are encouraged to apply for school choice to attend HMS (without transportation). This would allow them to form early connections with the emerging EMS & SCHS student population.
    2. Once EMS opens, there will be no transportation to HMS from the SRES or SES boundary areas. 
    3. Once EMS opens, families wishing to stay at HMS may apply for School of Choice to stay and to allow siblings to attend HMS. Choice will have priority status, but is not guaranteed.

    Springs Ranch Elementary School

    Once Elevation Middle School opens: 

    1. SRES students will transition to EMS. 
    2. Transportation will be provided to EMS. 
    3. Families with students at HMS, who want to stay, may wish to apply for School of Choice to allow siblings moving up to middle school to attend HMS. Choice will have priority status, but is not guaranteed.
    4. There will be no transportation to HMS from the SRES boundary area.  

     

    To start the School of Choice process, please contact the school you want to choice into. For questions about School of Choice applications, please contact the D49 registration office at 719-494-8911, by email at registration@d49.org or online at www.d49.org/register.  Our School of Choice application is on the D49 website: https://www.d49.org/Page/70

    Families wishing to visit and tour Sand Creek High School, please contact the SCHS office at 719-495-1160. 

    Families wishing to visit and tour Horizon Middle School, please contact the HMS office at 719-495-5210.