A year after the Mid-Prairie School District made the elementary equalization building transition, they have gathered teachers’ input on the first year after the change.

Superintendent Mark Schneider met with staff from Mid-Prairie East and West Elementaries and the fifth grade faculty this April to get their input on the change. Schneider collected this feedback and presented it to the principals, who then discussed it with the school board this month.

Schneider said some of the positives mentioned were consistency in instruction and the class sizes, “But I think overall the largest benefit that was mentioned was the amount of collaboration that bringing all of the teachers together in the same grade, just how easier it was and how much more collaboration those teachers in the same grade levels were able to do.”

Schneider mentioned one of the negatives, “There was a general feeling now because we’ve gone to grade-alike attendance centers that there will be less focus on a district feeling. That’s more of a generalized concern rather than a day-to-day concern, so as an administrative staff and even with teacher input and support staff input we’ll have to think of things that we need to do to make sure that we maintain that generalized district feeling, that generalized family feel for the Mid-Prairie community.”

The administration will be taking the staff’s input into consideration when they draft their goals for the coming year at their August retreat. The district also plans to send a survey to parents this fall to gauge their perception and get any suggestions on improvements moving forward.