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New schools on the way for 2004
By the time school starts in 2003, Highlands Ranch and Lone Tree students will have a new middle school and a building for Mountain Ridge Middle School. In addition, a new high school will open in the fall of 2004.
Although this may seem a little extreme, Bill Reimer, chief operating officer for Douglas County schools, said the schools are necessary to provide for an onslaught of secondary students coming up through the ranks of elementaries in the next few years.
By By:Tamra Monahan
By the time school starts in 2003, Highlands Ranch and Lone Tree students will have a new middle school and a building for Mountain Ridge Middle School. In addition, a new high school will open in the fall of 2004.
Although this may seem a little extreme, Bill Reimer, chief operating officer for Douglas County schools, said the schools are necessary to provide for an onslaught of secondary students coming up through the ranks of elementaries in the next few years.
Reimer said school district officials know growth is going to heavily impact the secondary schools over the next few years as communities like Highlands Ranch and Lone Tree mature. To accommodate the increasing number of secondary students in northern Douglas County, the school district asked for a larger amount in the last bond election which was approved, allowing these new schools to be built when needed, not when student populations are at crisis levels.
"We know growth is going to hit the secondary schools more heavily over the next few years, so in the last election we went forward and asked for the bigger amount because the mil levy was going down," Reimer said.
Construction on both Mountain Ridge Middle School and Middle School No. 7 will begin in the spring of 2002 to open in the fall of 2003. Both middle schools are being designed and bid at the same time, which saves the district money because when one contractor builds two schools there is an economy-of-scale savings.
Building Middle School No. 7 before High School No. 7 is a departure from the district's usual plan of opening a high school building with both high school and middle school students until the middle school building is completed.
The reason for this change is financial. Reimer said building middle schools and high schools is so expensive that normally each school is financed through separate bond elections. However, in the case of Middle School No. 7 and High School No. 7, the money came from one bond election. As a result, the district decided to build the two schools in a more logical way - middle school first, then the high school.
"Instead of putting middle school kids in a high school building first and having to deal with those logistics, we're going to put middle school kids in a middle school building, build the high school and open it a year later and when the kids leave the middle school, they'll go right into a high school with no shared facilities," Reimer said.
Approximately six months after the opening of Middle School No. 7, construction on High School No. 7 will begin, with the school opening in the fall of 2004.
Reimer said the student population of these two new schools will most likely be a mix of students from Highlands Ranch, Lone Tree and Castle Pines North. Right now, kids from Castle Pines North go to Douglas County High School and Castle Rock Middle School, both of which are overcrowded and need some relief. Also, Reimer and his colleagues believe the location of the new high school and middle school near the intersection of Monarch Boulevard and McArthur Ranch Road makes a them a more logical choice for Castle Pines North students. Instead of driving on I-25 to get to school, buses, parents and students could use Monarch Boulevard, a safer choice.
By By:Tamra Monahan
By the time school starts in 2003, Highlands Ranch and Lone Tree students will have a new middle school and a building for Mountain Ridge Middle School. In addition, a new high school will open in the fall of 2004.
Although this may seem a little extreme, Bill Reimer, chief operating officer for Douglas County schools, said the schools are necessary to provide for an onslaught of secondary students coming up through the ranks of elementaries in the next few years.
Reimer said school district officials know growth is going to heavily impact the secondary schools over the next few years as communities like Highlands Ranch and Lone Tree mature. To accommodate the increasing number of secondary students in northern Douglas County, the school district asked for a larger amount in the last bond election which was approved, allowing these new schools to be built when needed, not when student populations are at crisis levels.
"We know growth is going to hit the secondary schools more heavily over the next few years, so in the last election we went forward and asked for the bigger amount because the mil levy was going down," Reimer said.
Construction on both Mountain Ridge Middle School and Middle School No. 7 will begin in the spring of 2002 to open in the fall of 2003. Both middle schools are being designed and bid at the same time, which saves the district money because when one contractor builds two schools there is an economy-of-scale savings.
Building Middle School No. 7 before High School No. 7 is a departure from the district's usual plan of opening a high school building with both high school and middle school students until the middle school building is completed.
The reason for this change is financial. Reimer said building middle schools and high schools is so expensive that normally each school is financed through separate bond elections. However, in the case of Middle School No. 7 and High School No. 7, the money came from one bond election. As a result, the district decided to build the two schools in a more logical way - middle school first, then the high school.
"Instead of putting middle school kids in a high school building first and having to deal with those logistics, we're going to put middle school kids in a middle school building, build the high school and open it a year later and when the kids leave the middle school, they'll go right into a high school with no shared facilities," Reimer said.
Approximately six months after the opening of Middle School No. 7, construction on High School No. 7 will begin, with the school opening in the fall of 2004.
Reimer said the student population of these two new schools will most likely be a mix of students from Highlands Ranch, Lone Tree and Castle Pines North. Right now, kids from Castle Pines North go to Douglas County High School and Castle Rock Middle School, both of which are overcrowded and need some relief. Also, Reimer and his colleagues believe the location of the new high school and middle school near the intersection of Monarch Boulevard and McArthur Ranch Road makes a them a more logical choice for Castle Pines North students. Instead of driving on I-25 to get to school, buses, parents and students could use Monarch Boulevard, a safer choice.
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