Decatur schools to move students to middle school and annex

DECATUR -- Big changes are coming to Decatur Public Schools for the 2016-2017 school year. The district has grown by more than 70 students this year. Decatur Northside Elementary has outgrown student capacity and is currently using the elementary computer lab and music room as regular classrooms due to the extreme growth.

The district now has three classes per grade level in grades kindergarten through third, and will grow to three classes of fourth graders next year. The Board of Education voted March 14 to move fifth grade and the prekindergarten program out of the elementary for the next school year. Both grades will be relocated to the Decatur Middle School campus.

Sixth grade students were moved from the elementary to the middle school in 2014. It was a smooth transition that the district believes has benefited students.

It has been an asset to bring back the middle school to Decatur. Our students have their own building now. In previous years, our sixth graders would be in the elementary and then have to transition to the high school campus in seventh grade. We will now have a fully functioning fifth through eighth grade middle school.

The maintenance team has been hard at work remodeling the interior of the middle school and will have the building completed this summer. Doug Holly's team of Patsy Wilkins, Donna Vann, Paul Palmer, Brandy Coker, Everette Thompson and Dayla Stahl have been ahead of schedule on building improvements, including working over spring break.

The district recently adopted a plan that will add a gym-auditorium to the middle school in 2017. The goal is to have the new section of the middle school open for parent tours by the end of May.

Prekindergarten classes will be moving to the main campus at 1498 Stadium Dr. (along Arkansas Highway 102) for the next school year. The maintenance team will be hard at work over the summer remodeling the interior of the 7,000-square-foot annex building that lies between the middle school and the high school.

Teachers will be working to make this prekindergarten center an excellent educational environment for all children in Decatur, ages 3 to 4. This new facility will feature larger 1,500-square-foot classrooms, a large fenced-in playground that will be used only for prekindergarten, improved drop-off and pickup areas with less traffic, and a greenhouse for hands-on learning.

We are excited to make this a great place for children. This program will continue to be free to all students! We will now have three large classrooms available. Our goal is to get as many children into our preschool programs possible.