Sky Ranch Middle School: New school with a lot of new students
With new schools come new technology, teachers, and especially students. Sky Ranch middle school introduces 1,353 new students to their new school.
A new school year for Washoe county School District was started on August 12, and three news schools were opened. Sky ranch middle school built on 31.8 areas of land and was one of two new middle schools . Sky ranch is one of the largest middle schools in the school district at 1,400 seats. Sky ranch holds 1,353 students grades sixth through eighth and is two stories allowing for more room for the increase of students. The student body of Sky Ranch is made mostly of two middle schools, Yvonne Shaw and Lou Mendive middle school and new elementary school students.
“I have 320 students, I have nine classes from anywhere to 32 to 40 students,” said Mike Bowers the twenty first learning teacher at Sky Ranch middle school. “We are overcrowded, on day one we where overcrowded.”, “The campus is able to handle it, it’s just the teachers are bursting at the seam.” The amount of students at Sky ranch has hit the ceiling of students due to new zoning and variance’s granted to any students wanting to switch to Sky Ranch middle school. “ Our Principle Gina Leonhard was very kind and allowed any 8th grader that wanted a variance to come here, and so every kid wanted the new building and the new technology, they wanted all the great teachers that are here,” Bowers goes on to explain.
The final attendance count for the 2018–2019 school years at Yvonne Shaw middle school was at 1,023 students. At the start of 2019–2020 school year the new number was 920 students. The drop of 103 students has allowed Shaw middle school to introduce their first class of sixth graders of 298 students. Lou Mendive middle school dropped 110 students allowing for room at the middle school. “I’ve talked to my friends I had at Mendive and they are saying their classes are becoming smaller and somewhat bare bones in some of their classes,” said Lou Stein a graphic design teacher at Sky Ranch and former English teacher an Mendive middle school.
Sky Ranch middle school was not only built to get rid of crowding in other middle schools but to also introduces a more digital culture for future middle schools. Every room in Sky Ranch is filled with new Apple computers reminisce of college classes. New cameras, gym equipment and even top of the line security systems help aid in the new student’s progression.
“ I think their past the initial stage, where they couldn’t even understand the programs, a lot of the first month were students telling me they don’t know how to turn stuff in,” expressed Lou. He also went on to express some of the bugs that need to be worked out with a full Middle school. “Whenever you ask how it’s going, you think of the glitches first, and they were all kind of expected with technology glitches, and I still have a couple fold able tables in my classes but other than that the atmosphere is great and the students are great.” With new packed school there is also going to be a clash in culture Mike bowers goes on to say about Sky Ranch. “The eighth graders are coming from their 7th grades from Shaw and Mendive and their not really blending together.”, “Every eighth grader just wants to compare everything to their old schools.” Even with the schools technical difficulties and different culture the school is on a good path as Lou explains it best, “I notice there are a higher percentage of students that want to do really well; it feels like kids really care about their future when they come to Sky Ranch every day.”
