School system prepares for major changes in 2019

The Vestavia Hills City School system is preparing for major changes in 2019 as one elementary school is added and another taken away and a new middle school, along with the system’s first freshman campus, comes online.

RECONFIGURATION AND CONSTRUCTION

In a July 9, 2018 announcement, Superintendent Todd Freeman told the public he recommended the reconfiguration plan known as Option 2, which would put all elementary schools between 78 and 88 percent of their total student capacity except for Vestavia Hills Elementary East, which will be at 92.6 percent of capacity. 

He made two revisions to the original version of that plan, transferring some Vestavia Hills Elementary Liberty Park students to Vestavia Hills Elementary Cahaba Heights, while keeping some Cahaba Heights students zoned for VHECH as opposed to moving them to the new school, which will be called Vestavia Hills Elementary Dolly Ridge when the school takes possession of it in the summer of 2019.

Vestavia Hills Elementary Central will close at the end of the 2018-19 school year, and Pizitz Middle School will move to the former Berry High School campus on Columbiana Road. The facility Pizitz will become a ninth-grade campus.

The board unanimously upheld Freeman’s recommendation, thus beginning the more than a yearlong process of preparing the school system for the changes.

The Gresham campus is currently receiving a 12-classroom addition to house fourth and fifth grade, and the school system is in the process of addressing infrastructure needs such as parking, a playground and carpool lanes, Assistant Superintendent Patrick Martin said.

The facility is in good condition, Martin said, but the expansion is necessary as the current facility is only able to hold about 400 students in the Jefferson County system. When Vestavia takes over, about 700 or 800 students will be zoned for the campus, Martin said.

The school system is still able to maintain a lower-than-average class size, Freeman said, and the class size is lower than required by the school’s accrediting agency. 

At the Berry site, there are three current phases of construction: the renovation of the existing facility, the addition of a new space for band and chorus and the pre-construction of a new gymnasium. The school will also have to be re-roofed.

The Berry campus is significantly larger than Pizitz because it was originally a high school, which is helpful considering Pizitz has a higher number of students than Liberty Park Middle School, Freeman said.

The Central facility may no longer host students, but Freeman said it will not be abandoned.

“Central will be a multi-use facility,” Freeman said.

Since parking spaces are limited at Central, Freeman said it may be used for meeting and office space and has “obvious benefits” to the system, but plans have not been finalized. The school will celebrate its history throughout the rest of the 2018-19 school year, Freeman said.

So far, everything is on schedule for the 2019-20 school year and school leaders are pleased with the way the project is going, Freeman said.

STAFFING

Each year, teachers in the VHCS system sign a letter of intent, signifying their desires for the upcoming school year. This year, teachers at Central will have to be reassigned, Freeman said.

“We know we have to move a large number of staff,” Freeman said.

Other than Central’s teachers, Freeman said it’s mostly students and inventory that will be doing the moving over the summer, along with support staff such as school resource officers, nurses, clerical positions and others.

The school system has moved registration back to April in order to allow the staff and families the time to prepare for the changes that come with reconfiguration. The board in October approved a two-hour early release on April 18 to allow the entire staff of the system to meet together.

Ty Arendall will be the principal at VHEDR, and the system will begin searching for a new principal at Liberty Park Elementary School, where Arendall currently works. As the ninth grade campus is an extension of Vestavia Hills High School, Tyler Burgess will be the principal of both VHHS and the ninth-grade campus, though two assistant principals, Jennifer Brown and David Howard, will be on site at the 9th grade campus full-time.

ADAPTING TO CHANGE

Freeman said he’s not worried about students being prepared for the possibility of changing schools or, for some, going back to a school from which they would have “graduated” before reconfiguration.

“I find that students adapt to changes well,” Freeman said. “Our students have really wonderful experiences at all the schools they attend.”

At the ninth grade campus, Freeman said leaders are working to create a “new culture” that is dedicated to all things ninth grade and provide unique opportunities there.

“If students feel safe and they feel excited about learning, then it’s going to be a great experience,” Freeman said.

Martin said as someone who has not been with the system long, he’s impressed with the “collective decision-making” being made by school leaders. Formal meetings are being held on a monthly basis and informal conversations are being held daily, he said.

PREPARING FOR THE MOVE

The “sheer magnitude” of the move is an enormous task, Freeman said. Martin said school leaders are preparing as much as they can for the move and are in talks with move management companies who will help transport resources and inventory across campuses.

With more space everywhere, the reconfiguration will “elevate” the school system’s mission to provide an excellent education, Freeman said.

In order to keep up with parents, Freeman said he is sending out periodic updates via email and videos about what’s going on, another one of which will be sent in January and again sometime in the spring. The communication helps him receive feedback from stakeholders, he said.

The school system is also working with the city to address any traffic concerns, as some parents will have their morning and afternoon routes affected by the move.

The reconfiguration of the city’s school system and the work to prepare VHCS for years to come would not be possible without the community, Freeman said.

“All of this work is possible because we have … unparalleled community support,” Freeman said. “We are most fortunate.”

This story is part of our Year in Preview. See more here.