Valley needs a new elementary school

By all enrollment projections, the Snoqualmie Valley School District will need another elementary school by the 2016-2017 school year. Planning and design work for the building began last fall and has been paid for with school impact fees from the district’s capital facilities fund. In order to continue with the project, which would provide 29 more classrooms for our Valley’s growing number of children, the school board needs to commit to a bond to raise the estimated $35 million total project costs. Educating our youth is one of the best things we can do for our community.

March 3, 2014 12:04 pm

By all enrollment projections, the Snoqualmie Valley School District will need another elementary school by the 2016-2017 school year. Planning and design work for the building began last fall and has been paid for with school impact fees from the district’s capital facilities fund. In order to continue with the project, which would provide 29 more classrooms for our Valley’s growing number of children, the school board needs to commit to a bond to raise the estimated $35 million total project costs. Educating our youth is one of the best things we can do for our community.

Elementary school is particularly important to future social and cognitive development. We learn our social skills and study habits during these years and disrupting that with overpopulated schools is not fair to the future of our community’s youth. If a bond passes it will provide our youngest students with the state recommended 17:1 class size ratio they need during this impressionable age. Large class sizes dramatically affect communication between teachers and students and creates opportunities for students to fall behind. It is very difficult for students to rebound and succeed in the classroom once they develop social and learning challenges in elementary school. While the hard working parents of our community are busy during the day, children deserve above adequate classrooms and education to set them up for their future.

It has taken me till now, halfway through my higher education at Western Washington University that I truly understand the role education has had on my life. The degree I will earn is much more than something to put on my resume. My schooling has provided me with the tools and knowledge in order to enjoy a meaningful and fulfilling life. The lessons I learned in elementary school have helped me navigate this crazy world we live in, and I would hate for our community’s youth to get left behind and miss out on this. I hope the school board members and voters of the Snoqualmie Valley will take this chance to improve the lives of elementary school kids and our community by voting for a new elementary school.

Jack Kelly

North Bend