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School Boundary Shift

POWER / Sand Creek Adjustment Takes Effect Fall of 2022

District 49 is one of the fastest growing school districts in Colorado. Our long-range planning includes building new schools to increase our capacity, and every new school requires the difficult, but necessary step of adjusting school boundaries. D49 is moving up the timeline for the board-approved zone and school boundary changes associated with the construction and opening of Elevation Middle School.

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 the SES 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 below.

What Does This Mean for Families Now?

The boundary shift will have no immediate impact on our current school year. All students will continue attending school, as usual, through the remainder of the ‘21 - ‘22 school year. The zone and school boundaries will shift this summer to prepare for fall enrollment and the ‘22 - ‘23 school year.

Initially, the zone and boundary changes were set to coincide with the opening of Elevation Middle School (EMS) in the Sand Creek Zone. Construction of EMS was planned to begin this school year, but has been delayed. Norwood Development Group is working with the Army Corps of Engineers to resolve concerns over drainage ways and wetlands in the housing development where we will build EMS. This process has taken longer than expected, postponing the construction of roads and infrastructure needed to build the school. The earliest possible completion date for EMS is Spring 2024, if the housing development moves forward in a timely manner.

The approved zone and boundary changes are designed to relieve pressure at Vista Ridge High School (VRHS), and Skyview Middle School (SMS), both of which are operating above designed capacity. As district leadership studied the impact of the EMS delay and examined student enrollment and building capacity, speeding up the boundary shift timeline presented the best option to relieve enrollment pressures in the POWER Zone.

As we shared in a previous communication, the boundary adjustment means that Stetson Elementary School (SES) will join the Sand Creek Zone, which will support the district’s long-range planning for Elevation Middle School. Families living in SES neighborhoods that traditionally attended POWER Zone schools will now fall into the Sand Creek Zone boundary pattern, including middle and high school students.

What the Boundary Shift Means For Students this Fall and Beyond.

Families living in the boundary area for SES 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).

The chart below presents the options for current middle and elementary school students in the SES boundary area, followed by school-by-school explanation.

Boundary info by cell

 

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 before the end of this semester. 

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

We understand the change in boundaries will have major implications for some families and will do our best to work with those that apply for School of Choice. Please continue to watch our regular communication channels for updates on this long-term planning project. Anything we can learn from this transition will help us in the future as we build more schools in our ever-growing district. We thank you for your time and trust.