9th graders will become high schoolers in Ankeny as district prepares new career classes

Ankeny ninth graders will soon become high schoolers in a new plan approved by the school board.

Ankeny middle school students are now separated into two buildings for grades six and seven and another two buildings for grades eight and nine. The board on Monday unanimously approved changing middle school to include grades six through eight and high school, grades nine through 12.

A committee of about 60 staff and community members worked during the school year to consider how the district uses its buildings, including new school boundaries, grade configurations and even what high school should look like in the future. Final staff recommendations came before the board Monday after families offered feedback on the proposed changes.

More: Ninth graders becoming high schoolers? Big changes proposed for Ankeny schools

What is Ankeny's innovative secondary hub?

Those changes won't happen for at least the next two school years, Superintendent Erick Pruitt said.

He said the district will immediately begin work on a proposed "innovative secondary hub," a place where students enrolled at either Ankeny High or Centennial would go for career, technical and other specialized programs.

Officials will begin considering a location and organizations the district could partner with to make the hub a reality. It will not be a third high school but having students take classes there would open up space at Ankeny High and Centennial for ninth graders.

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The district also will need to set boundaries for which building middle school students in grades six through eight would attend when the time comes to make the switch. All of that will take more work with community members, district staff recommendations and school board decisions in the coming years.

"There are a lot of keys, a lot of moving pieces to this puzzle, and this is a big first step forward in really being able to decide what does that next big step for Ankeny look like," said board member Aaron Johnson.

What are the new elementary school boundaries in Ankeny?

The school board also unanimously approved new elementary school boundaries that will begin with the 2024-25 school year with the opening of Abbie Grove Elementary on the northwest side.

More: Ankeny names principal of new elementary school Abbie Grove

Abbie Grove will serve students from an area roughly north of First Street and west of Northwest Weigel Drive, then north of the High Trestle Trail and west of Northwest Irvinedale Drive. The area currently is divided between Rock Creek, Ashland Ridge and Westwood elementaries, which also will see some boundary changes.

Under the final plan, students in the new Westwood boundary who live north of Northwest 18th Street will get bussed as a safety measure given busy traffic and construction in the 18th Street and Irvinedale Drive area.

The final boundary map also keeps the current boundaries for Heritage and Southeast elementaries. Instead of changing the boundaries, the district will monitor class size and capacity at Southeast — which has boundaries that go east of Interstate 35 — and bus new students who move into the area to Heritage if enrollment growth goes over capacity at Southeast, according to district documents.

The Ankeny Community School District bought land last month east of Interstate 35 near the intersection of Northeast 94th Avenue and Northeast 29th Street in a quickly-developing area as enrollment trends point to a need for more capacity for elementary and middle school students.

Chris Higgins covers the eastern suburbs for the Register. Reach him at chiggins@registermedia.com or 515-423-5146 and follow him on Twitter @chris_higgins_.

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Ankeny students in 9th grade will soon be high schoolers in new plan