Ketchum school will add two more grade levels by 2019
By Jean Jacques Bohl
During its regular monthly meeting on Tuesday, Oct. 11, the Blaine County School District Board of Trustees, in a rare show of unanimity, approved a plan to gradually expand Ernest Hemingway Elementary School in Ketchum to include two more grade levels. Hemingway currently is a kindergarten-through-fifth-grade school. The school currently has an enrollment of 352 students and a teaching staff of 31 teachers. Hemingway Elementary Principal Don Haisley has been at Hemingway as a teacher from 1993 to 2001, and as principal ever since.
The Weekly Sun sat down with Haisley to discuss the upcoming changes.
The Weekly Sun: What is the genesis of the proposal?
Don Haisley: During Dr. Holmes’ community meetings, people made it apparent that they wanted the school district to expand opportunities in elementary schools. A 2015 spring survey of our parents strongly reinforced that idea. Parents love the concepts of a school with a smaller atmosphere as well as having the students being closer to home.
TWS: What are the benefits for the students, the parents and the district?
DH: Research has shown that students thrive better in a small environment. It will be easier for parents to juggle practice times for their children enrolled in the Sun Valley Ski Education [Foundation] or ice skating programs. The proposal will also help the overcrowding at Wood River Middle School by taking as many as 150 students off the attendance rolls by 2019.
TWS: How many students will be in the sixth grade next year?
DH: We now have 50 students in the fifth grade. We plan on having two sixth-grade classes of 25 students each.
TWS: The new middle school will put emphasis on art, science, engineering and math. How is this curriculum different from what Wood River Middle School currently offers?
DH: At the middle school, these subjects are being taught separately. At Hemingway, they will be integrated by teachers working collaboratively. All Hemingway teachers have a K-8 teaching certificate. Additional staffing needs will most likely be covered by transfers.
TWS: How will you handle non-Hemingway students wishing to enroll in the program?
DH: Small class sizes is a district policy. Currently, 25 percent of our student body is from the South Valley. There is no profile or admission test to enter the program. We hope to accommodate all students wishing to go to Hemingway.
TWS: Hemingway will obviously not have after-school athletics. How will you serve the needs of students wishing to participate in Wood River Middle School extracurricular activities?
DH: Hemingway has a different schedule than Wood River Middle School. We start at 8 a.m. and finish at 2:30 p.m. There will be an express school bus in the morning for the South Valley students. We will provide an activity bus to drive students to the middle school in the afternoon.
TWS: What building upgrades will be necessary and what will be the cost?
DH: We will have meetings to discuss all of this. I anticipate that we will need to build a separate wing with up to six classrooms. We will need an additional computer lab and science lab. The library will also need to be expanded.
TWS: What foreign languages will you teach?
DH: At this point, the plan is to offer Spanish only. Students who are in Dual Immersion will likely take classes taught in Spanish. Other students will start with Spanish I classes.