Two meetings this week should help Snoqualmie Valley School District staff finalize plans for populating its sixth elementary school, now under construction. The meetings, at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, at North Bend Elementary School, and 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 21, at the Mount Si High School Freshman Campus, will cover the two elementary school boundary change proposals, Options B2 and C2, now being considered by the school district.

Both meetings are informational, says Jeff Hogan, district co-superintendent. Community members will have further opportunities to raise concerns with the school board through surveys and at the board’s Oct. 29 meeting. Neither of this week’s meetings are expected to be contentious,

“When we’re adding a school, these (processes) are pretty quiet,” Hogan said. “When we’re not adding schools, it’s tougher.”

The new 31-classroom elementary school, located on Snoqualmie Ridge is set to open next fall. It will draw students from three of the five existing elementary schools in the district, and four of the five schools will see some change as a result of the new boundaries.

“One of the criteria was to have students attend school in the cities where they live,” Hogan explained.

Currently, about 600 of the 1,150 students who live on Snoqualmie Ridge are being bused to Fall City, North Bend and Snoqualmie Elementary Schools. Under both of the new boundary proposals, about 500 of them will be within the new school’s attendance boundaries.

Roughly 100 students from Fall City Elementary, 200 from Snoqualmie Elementary and 200 from North Bend Elementary will attend the new school next fall. Another 100 students will be added to the North Bend Elementary boundaries from Opstad Elementary, to allow additional capacity at Opstad for expected growth.

Snoqualmie Elementary School will remain the district’s largest elementary, both in capacity and population, Hogan said.

A committee of staff, including the district’s transportation manager and several elementary school principals, has been meeting weekly for several months to develop the attendance boundary proposals. They initially considered five proposals, but last week narrowed the field to two.

The committee will present its recommendation to the school board at its Oct. 29 meeting and the board is expected to adopt the new boundaries at a special meeting on Wednesday, Nov. 4.

For more information on the boundary review process, visit the school district’s website, www.svsd410.org.

Option 2 shows a second, slightly different adjustment to the school district’s elementary attendance boundaries.

Name the new school

Naming a school is necessary, but challenging, say Snoqualmie Valley School District officials. As they prepare to begin the nomination process for naming the district’s sixth elementary school, they have worked to avoid the many pitfalls that can come with a specific name, such as Cascade View Elementary, which shares a name with schools in Snohomish and Tukwila.

The rules for the process are few. Anyone can suggest, or nominate, a name, via the district’s online survey or at the district office. There is no limit to the number of suggestions, but to be considered, names must be significant to the area, not conflict with other place names, and not include a person’s name.

The nomination process will begin Nov. 9. School board members will review the suggestions Dec. 6 and each will select up to three names. Their choices will be announced as the finalists, and more feedback gathered. The vote on the name is expected on Jan. 28.