Sartell- St. Stephen School District is making plans to eliminate school boundaries by grouping students by grade level rather than by geography.

Sartell graduates vividly remember the battle of the schools between Oak Ridge Elementary and Pine Meadow Elementary in fourth grade. By grouping students by grade level, this competition will be eliminated.

Coming in 2020, Sartell-St. Stephen plans to group the five schools not by geography but instead by grade levels. Preschool and kindergarten will either be in Pine Meadow or Oak Ridge; first and second grades will be in the other elementary building; third through fifth grades will be in the current middle school, and sixth through eighth grade will be in the current high school.  Students, ninth through twelfth, will be in the new high school that will open fall of 2019.

Kip Lynk (Oak Ride Elementary Principal), Sara Nelson (Pine Meadow Elementary Principal), and Assistant Superintendent Kay Nelson brought this idea of grouping classes by grade levels rather than by geography.

Kay Nelson stated at a board meeting in November, “As we started to look at our early childhood program, splitting that into two sites didn’t make sense. You would have to double on a lot of equipment and staff.”

On February 25^ththe school board committee voted on four options.

The majority ruled that Sartell would have one site serve preschool and kindergarten and the other serve as first and second grades. Kay Nelson stated, “It would take away our boundaries so all of our kids have transitioned together (once they graduate).”

Some downfalls might be apparent with this shift. The district would have to decide where to place specialists.  It will create some extra work for custodial staff who will need to make building changes to ensure basic physical components like bathrooms and water fountains are at the right heights and to enhance the curriculum.

In an interview with a third-grade teacher at Oak Ridge Elementary, Chris Kosloski, shared her thoughts about this big change:  “I think the changing ways are good for the school district but there are definitely going to be some challenging changes that aren’t going to go over well if we don’t act like a district. I do believe that having the grade levels in the same building will be good for us.”