District to Redraw ALL Elementary School Boundaries in Fall 2015, in Preparation for 2016 Opening of New School on Ridge

We’ve received several inquiries lately from parents wondering where their child will attend school when the district’s newest elementary school opens in Snoqualmie in fall 2016.

Unfortunately, there in not a definite answer yet.  Sorry folks.

What the Snoqualmie Valley School District stated during the successful February  School Bond campaign was that once elementary school #6 opens at the corner of Snoqualmie Parkway and SE Swenson Drive, the boundaries for all existing SVSD elementary schools will be redrawn.

Assistant Superintendent Jeff Hogan stated the attendance boundary review process should kick off in mid to late September 2015 and hopefully be wrapped up in early November so the district can begin working on the next steps for opening the new school -like naming and staffing it.

Hogan said once elementary #6 opens, the district should be able to accommodate all students who reside in a 98065 zip code at one the three schools located in that Snoqualmie zip code: Cascade View Elementary, Snoqualmie Elementary and unnamed elementary #6.

The lingering question for some parents seems to be, “If we live on Snoqualmie Ridge, will we attend one of the two schools school located nearby?”  That is a question that won’t be answered until the boundary review process is completed.

Currently, about half of students who reside in Snoqualmie Ridge attend Cascade View, located at the corner of Douglas Ave and Ridge Street.  The other half of Ridge students attend Snoqualmie Elementary (Heights, K North, Braeburn, Ironwood, Braeburn, Woody Creek neighborhoods), North Bend Elementary (Deer Park, Aster Creek neighborhoods) and Fall City Elementary (Eagle Pointe neighborhood).

Students who currently attend elementary school outside of Snoqualmie will shift to a school within Snoqualmie starting in fall 2016. That will free up room at North Bend Elementary for growth currently happening there due to the development of new neighborhoods in the area. The boundaries for Opstad Elementary and North Bend Elementary will also be redrawn during next fall’s attendance boundary process.

So basically, many SVSD families won’t know exactly what elementary school they will attend in 2016 until the boundary review process is complete.

Historically, the closer a home is to a school (especially a walking zone), the more likely that is where students will go. That has not always been true in the past, though, as often times Ridge neighborhoods were zoned to schools where space existed.

The Heights neighborhood (northwest corner of Snoqualmie Ridge) is an example of this. Geographically it is closer to Cascade View, but when the neighborhood was built (2006-2007), Snoqualmie Elementary had ample room and Cascade View was full -so Snoqualmie Elementary is where the neighborhood was zoned.

Cascade Elementary and Snoqualmie Elementary School each currently have 670-700 Snoqualmie students enrolled. Another 270 (apprx.) Snoqualmie students attend NBE and FCE.

The Snoqualmie Valley School District has about 3200 total elementary students per an October enrollment report.

The district’s new elementary school, which is currently under construction, is being built to hold 650-700 students. It will be very similar in design to Cascade View, but slightly larger.  Cascade View added six portable classrooms to accommodate growth over the past decade. It was designed to hold 550-600 students.

In January, the Snoqualmie Valley School District updated its Attendance Area Policy. You can view Policy 3130 HERE.

So…  if you want to know absolutely where your child will attend elementary school during the 2016-17 school year, you’ll have to wait for new attendance boundaries to be drawn, which will happen for all SVSD elementary schools beginning in fall 2015.