The West Central Valley School District begins the 2019-2020 year this Friday with a structural change in the elementary buildings.

After several meetings were held by a restructuring committee, the School Board voted last January to make the elementary buildings grade alike. Instead of each building hosting kindergarten through fifth grades, the Stuart building will house preschool through second grade, and the Dexter building will house third through fifth.

The elementary buildings will also feature new furniture and Chromebooks for the students. Superintendent Lance Ridgely says the shifting of classrooms and teachers earlier this summer went very smoothly with the help of community members. Superintendent Lance Ridgely says the District is doing its best to inform families of the changes happening this year, “The big thing I would let parents know is we have a plan and we’re going to execute that plan in the first few days and we’re going to evaluate it and talk about it every day. Primarily what we’re talking about there is the transportation piece, because once the kids are in the building it’s going to run like the school’s run before.”

Ridgely adds some of the changes this year will be the elementaries’ start and breakfast times. He also says he and the transportation director have tried to minimize the number of bus exchanges a student would have to do with this change. The elementaries will be having a back-to-school night on Wednesday from 5-7 p.m.