Transition Year Could Be Confusing
Construction has been the Wylie school district’s main focus for most of this decade, but transition will be the challenge over the next two years.
Voters approved a bond election in November that will provide the construction needs for years to come. But moving into those facilities will bring big changes that won’t be easy for some Wylie students, parents or teachers.
“I think the next big issue is this scenario where you are dividing the grades,” Wylie Superintendent Joey Light said. “That is going to be distasteful for some folks. We would rather they be together, but the truth of the matter is we can’t do that.”
Light has already dubbed the 2018-19 school year as “The Transition Year” because students will move into Phase 1 of Wylie East Elementary, but Phase 2 and the new Wylie East Junior High will not be ready until 2019/2020.
Because the current Middle School can no longer accommodate all the students in 5th and 6th grades, changes will have to be made at every campus next year to ease Middle School crowding until the new Junior High is ready.
The changes will have a trickle down affect at every campus below Middle School and could be very confusing.
Light said he had a plan on how to do arrange the campuses, but teachers came to with a different idea that made a whole lot more sense.
“The teachers came to us with a recommendation,” Light said. “We feel it was a good suggestion.”
Wylie’s Pre-K, Kindergarten and 1st-grade students who live EAST of US Highway 83/84 will go to school this August at the new Wylie East Elementary, which is expected to be ready just in time for the new school year.
That will free up some space in the current Elementary next year, and Light originally planned to move 3rd-graders into that space and 5th-graders to the Intermediate to ease the Middle School crowding.
But teachers suggested that only 5th-graders and 3rd-graders who live EAST of US Highway 83/84 move during the transition year, while students who live on the west side of the highway stay where they are. That way west side teachers would not have to move to a new campus for one year and then move back to the original campus the very next year.
“We will move half as many teachers,” Light said. “If you are on the west side, nothing changes. If you are moving to the east side, you change twice, but they were going to have to do that anyway.”
The downside to the new plan is that it will be confusing. Students going into 3rd grade and 5th grade next year will go to different campuses, depending on which side of Highway 83/84 they live. The following pages explain exactly where students will go to school over the next two years.
The Transition Year will only affect students in Middle School and down. The big transition for Junior High students comes in 2019/2020, when all students in 8th grade and down who live east of 83/84 will go to their new east side campuses, and Wylie will have a second Junior High for the first time in its history.
The new Junior High will have its own sports programs, and many students will be separated from friends and even family that they have gone to school with for years.
But Light said the district will do everything it can to make the transition go smoothly. He said both Junior Highs will be Bulldogs and both will wear purple and gold as the district makes it a priority to make sure everyone feels like a Wylie Bulldog.
“It’s going to be a little confusing,” he said. “But we want everyone to be part of the Wylie family.”
Where Will Your Child Go To School In 2018/2019?
If You Live EAST of US Highway 83/84:
Grade Your Child Is Entering School He/She Will Attend
Pre-K, Kindergarten, 1st Grade Wylie East Elementary on Colony Hill Road.
2nd and 3rd Grades Current Elementary on Hardwick.
4th Grade and 5th Grades Current Intermediate on Beltway.
6th Grade Current Middle School on Beltway.
7th and 8th Grades Current Junior High on Beltway.
High School will be unaffected by the new construction.
If You Live WEST of US Highway 83/84:
Grade Your Child Is Entering School He/She Will Attend
Pre-K and Kindergarten Early Childhood Center on Buffalo Gap Road.
1st and 2nd Grades Current Elementary on Hardwick.
3rd and 4th Grades Current Intermediate on Beltway.
5th and 6th Grades Current Middle School on Beltway.
7th and 8th Grades Current Junior High on Beltway.
High School will be unaffected by the new construction.
Where Will Your Child Go To School In 2019/2020?
If You Live EAST of US Highway 83/84:
Grade Your Child Will Be Entering School He/She Will Attend
Pre-K through 4th Grades Wylie East Elementary on Colony Hill Road.
5th through 8th Grades Wylie East Junior High on Colony Hill Road.
High School will be unaffected by the new construction.
If You Live WEST of US Highway 83/84:
Grade Your Child Will Be Entering School He/She Will Attend
Pre-K and Kindergarten Early Childhood Center on Buffalo Gap Road.
1st and 2nd Grades Current Elementary on Hardwick.
3rd and 4th Grades Current Intermediate on Beltway.
5th and 6th Grades Current Middle School on Beltway.
7th and 8th Grades Current Junior High on Beltway.
High School will be unaffected by the new construction.