Shifting to grade level schools is a strategy to reduce the impact of budget reductions on students and staff. Budget savings are the result of a reduction of staff, and shifting to grade level schools enables the school district to keep class sizes as low as it can despite having fewer staff. Without a move to grade level buildings, having fewer staff would mean having class sizes that are much higher in one building than another or having to move students or redraw attendance boundaries often. You can watch a video explaining this more by clicking here.

Having buildings organized this way also enables more staff collaboration, improve equity in buildings, and increase consistency from one classroom to the next. 

Most teachers will be teaching the same grade level students in the fall, with some teachers switching buildings. A smaller number of teachers will be switching grade levels. All teachers are licensed for the grade levels they will be teaching and many have had the training (in literacy instruction for instance) that they need. Teachers who do not have training for the grade level they are assigned will have the opportunity to receive the training they need in order to be successful and provided with instructional support. 

Different models have different benefits and challenges, but some benefits of the grade level approach include:

• Allows the district to keep class sizes as low as possible

• Enables schools to be more focused on meeting the unique academic, behavioral, social-emotional and developmental needs of a smaller grade band of students

• Creates opportunities for greater collaboration among teachers on a larger team

• Will result in a more consistent academic and school experience for students and families 

• Allows the district to pool resources and services to meet the needs of students in entire grade levels (for example, Indian Education, Gifted and Talented, interventions, mental health supports, technology). 

• Reduces costs associated with training staff across various buildings

• Allows the district to respond to increases and decreases in class sizes without moving students to different schools 

In order to be financially responsible, this spring will be the 5th year of budget reductions. This ultimately means that fewer staff work in our schools. Grade level buildings are a more efficient way for the school district to manage staff numbers and class sizes.

A grade level approach is not a new idea or one that is unique to ISD #318. Many school districts in the state are doing this now and districts like Hibbing and Little Falls are going through the same transition right now, for many of the same reasons. 

Neighborhood schools generally exist in larger cities and serve an entire student body that lives within just a few miles (or even blocks) of the school. In outstate or rural Minnesota, neighborhood schools generally do not exist.

Our school district serves about 4,000 students in an area of about 2,000 square miles. The current attendance areas for East Rapids Elementary and West Rapids Elementary are very large, with each school serving students who live up to 30 miles away. Due to the size of the area that our schools serve, the buildings as they are currently operating do not function as neighborhood schools, other than for students who happen to live within a mile or two of the building.    See the district map for an overview of elementary school attendance boundaries. 

Both East and West Rapids Elementary have amazing Parent Teacher Committees (PTCs). Our PTCs lead exciting and engaging academic and community building activities, fundraisers, events, field trips, art experiences and more.  PTC members contribute to conversations and decisions that affect numerous aspects within each school and each building. Some changes will happen with our PTCs, but our need for their involvement will continue and we look forward to seeing how we can work together as each building resets. PTCs from East and West Rapids have met and are considering merging to make things more convenient and focused for families. If you would like to get involved in the PTC, reach out to the office at your child's school.

We also host volunteers in our buildings that help in a variety of ways and look forward to that continuing in the fall. 

It made most sense to have the grade level building closest to the middle school be the building serving the ages closest to the middle school to reduce the impact on families.

East Rapids and West Rapids will start at different times, a "staggered start", to make sure parents have time to get from one building to the other. However, schools will not be open as early as in the past. Previously, schools were open at 7:40am due to when school buses dropped off children. School buses next year will not drop off students until 8:00 or 8:10am, meaning schools will not open until then. The district does not have the funding to staff childcare before schools open. Below is a table that shows when schools will open and start.

West Rapids Elem. Cohasset Elem. East Rapids Elem.

Doors open 8:05 AM 8:05 AM 7:55 AM

Bus arrival 8:10 AM 8:10 AM 8:00 AM

School start 8:35 AM 8:35 AM 8:25 AM

School dismissal 2:50 PM 2:50 PM 3:00 PM. 

As always, parents have the option of utilizing the district's transportation service.  

The grade levels for Cohasset will remain the same, but there will be some staff changes at Cohasset as well as changes to school start and end times.

In order to accomodate packing necessary for the move, Cohasset, East, and West Elementary Schools will start summer vacation 1 day earlier. There will be no school for these three schools on Thursday, May 30th. This will not effect Bigfork, RJEMS, or Grand Rapids High School.

Parents needing before or after school care for the fall are encouraged to check out the following programs: 

YMCA ph. 218-327-8803 (a school bus picks up at the Y in the morning and transports 

children to school)

Little Red Wagon (Attached to Cohasset School) ph. 218-327-5793

As always, school district transportation is available for residents to get their children to and from school.

No. The buildings were built exactly the same and both buildings served students in the age range they will be serving next year. The only difference will be that next year, some Kindergarten classrooms will not have bathrooms in the room. While it can be convenient to have a bathroom in a Kindergarten room, this is not a requirement and principals and staff will work out a way to accomoate this change. 

Next year we will essentially have two attendance boundaries for elementary Schools - one boundary for Cohasset and a boundary shared by East and West.  The priority that we established last year was for students to attend the school or schools that are within the boundary they live. Parents were asked to fill out inter-district transfer requests if they preferred to have their student(s) attend a different school, and there were some exceptions granted based on our need to balance class sizes in the schools so the experiences for our students, families, and staff are equitable. 

District resident inter-district transfer requests honored last year will be honored next year, so children will attend the same school as last year. 

One of the big advantages of having early childhood in an elementary schools is to get the little ones used to the building that they will be attending the following year. As a result, both Invest Early classrooms will be at West Rapids Elementary School for the 2024-25 school year. 

Questions can be submitted using this link, or by calling the Superintendent at 218-327-5704