Promise Made, Promise Kept
School Leaders Work with Community to Move a School
In Part I, “High School Apprentice Program Drives Local Business Growth,” we talked about Luxemburg-Casco’s $27.8 million project that included a community fitness center, new classrooms, an updated library, a shared gymnasium, a first-in-class wrestling center, an upgraded kitchen facility and new main office. Another huge element was consolidating the middle school into the new building—which meant relocating it from another town. Relocation is perhaps the hardest decision a school district has to make. But good planning and strong leadership made it work.
Strong Leaders Needed to Take Bold Risks
Snowberry and Glenn Schlender (Luxemburg-Casco’s recently retired superintendent) were among the school leaders who concluded a radical new approach was needed to let their kids succeed. Fortunately, they had ideas and energy to burn.
Schlender and Snowberry knew they needed a comprehensive facility planning process, but first, they wanted to listen carefully to what the community wanted. They began by engaging the community in a series of conversations called “Future Search” facilitated by an independent consultant. After a two-year conversation with the community, and incorporating updates, they took their show on the road. Schlender met every group he could and made 22 presentations, which you can find on their website. All that work paid off, and the community passed the referendum, which led to the projects described earlier.
Having facilities that showed students their school was connected to the future, not the past, powered a truly transformational result for the kids, the school, and the community. Nexus Solutions was instrumental in funding, planning, and executing these complex and time-sensitive projects. The new spaces are a conduit for career success.
Removing a Roadblock to Success
Every adventure has obstacles, and one for the school district was what to do with the outdated middle school in Casco. Moving a school from one community to another is one of the most contentious things a district can do, but Schlender and Snowberry knew it had to happen.
However, Casco community members knew the 85-year-old middle school building was in bad shape. They’d just toured another community where a school had been abandoned. They didn’t want to see their middle school building have broken windows and weeds in the parking lot. So, Schlender made a promise that he “wouldn’t rest until he found a good use for the old building.” It was a promise critical to getting Casco’s support for the referendum that would finance the dream of a consolidated and state-of-the-art middle school integrated with the high school building in Luxemburg.
Schlender arranged for three uses in Casco’s old middle school: an alternative learning school, a clothing closet and social worker, and Wisconsin’s first diesel mechanics lab. They’re still going strong and looking for additional opportunities at the building in Casco.
Nexus
Value Added:
Developed and implemented a plan
to relocate the Middle School learning environment
Other Improvements:
Middle School tech ed
High School automotive and manufacturing
Agriculture & Fab Lab
New classrooms
Community fitness center
Shared gymnasium
Wrestling Center
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What weighted criteria do you use to assess your schools’ location?
What form of community engagement has worked best for you?
If you could put your schools anywhere, where would they be?
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PHONE: 608.819.6370
EMAIL: info@NexusSolutions.com