BOISE, Idaho — Dallas Harris Elementary School is the newest school in the Boise School District. The school, which has been in the works for years was able to open in November.
Six years after the citizens of Boise voted in favor of a $172 million bond, the new elementary school in Barber Valley opened up serving over 300 students, with capacity for growth of up to 500.
- The new school was built to compensate for future growth in East Boise.
- Now, the school has over 300 kids, with the potential for a total of 500.
(Below is the transcript from the broadcast story)
More than five years after Boiseans voted for a new school in Barber Valley, it's come to fruition and kids are in the classrooms at Dallas Harris Elementary.
School principal, Wendi Forrey, says the new school offers a nearby option for neighbors in Barber Valley.
"Where they get to walk to school, pick their kids up at the end of the day," Forrey told Idaho News 6. "It's definitely a community feel"
The school has been in the works for a while. The Boise School District said it was needed to address the growth on the east side of town.
"East Boise is definitely growing and that bond passing helped us build this school," Forrey said.
The bond Forrey is speaking of, 172 million dollars, approved by Boise voters back in 2017 by an 86% majority.
Related | Coming soon: Dallas Harris Elementary School
While the bond was passed over five years ago, the start of this school year didn't go on without a hitch.
The first day of school at Dallas Harris was November 13, almost three months into the school year. Forrey said staff experience has really helped.
"My staff, they're amazing," Forrey said. "I'm so lucky with who I get to work with and they know how to do first days of school also and we just tried to over communicate with our families and it was so smooth."
Before opening day, Dallas Harris was housed inside Riverside Elementary, but now the over 300 students have a building of their own, and they have room to grow. The school can hold about 500 children.
After growth in the classroom, one of Forrey's other main focuses is creating school spirit and making sure students stay safe.
"That's a big thing in a new building," Forrey said. "Trying to figure that out. We're working on our evacuation plans, we're practicing those already. We're talking about, because we are three stories, what if a stairwell is blocked, then you try a different stairwell. Things like that."
