The Gilbert district would have to agree to a boundary change. That is one reason why the city didn't want to grow that way, but eventually gave into pressure. Developers own land one the north side and people want to live there (market demand there).
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- Thread starter SoapyCy
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We have lived in Ames for nearly 40 years and the school district boundaries have been the same all that time. I think they date back quite a number of years more than that. I think the only way they can be moved is if both districts agree on the change.
The story that I was told (unverified) was that when the boundaries were drawn, they were very carefully set to keep the country kids out. Now that Ames is growing, that decision is coming back to bite.
Do I believe that story? I do since we have experienced the Ames school system to be quite elitist. I know that our children both moved their families into the Gilbert district not long after their kids started school. Take that example for what you will.
The story that I was told (unverified) was that when the boundaries were drawn, they were very carefully set to keep the country kids out. Now that Ames is growing, that decision is coming back to bite.
Do I believe that story? I do since we have experienced the Ames school system to be quite elitist. I know that our children both moved their families into the Gilbert district not long after their kids started school. Take that example for what you will.
So AHS has these approximate numbers for football-
Varsity- 52
Sophs- 35
Fresh- 22
After going to the Fall Kickoff Festival- Cross Country, golf, swimming, soccer, volleyball, and basketball have a bunch of kids out for these different sports. The band alone has as many as the ISU band does. Ames also has one of the best swimming programs around along with being one of the best academically.
Baseball and softball wise it's difficult due to compete as we don't have just the one sport student athletes like the Des Moines schools do. I've had Gilbert people mention to me about combining baseball and softball in order to compete.
What it comes down to is $$$. You now have the "country club" school in Gilbert, as that is where the Ames growth is at north of Bloomington Road. All that money goes to Gilbert schools. Look at CFH for instance, he went to Ames, as his parents lived in the district. He comes back and moves in the Gilbert district due to the new housing developments. Sure the money goes to booster clubs, but still its a draw for families moving into the Ames area. Look at Ankeny and Waukee with the housing explosion they have seen and the need for new schools.
If Ames does decide to build a new school, will that draw people to open enroll or moving into the Ames district? I don't know if it would or not.
I wanted to bring this up in the other thread about consolidation and districts, but thought it probably deserved it's own thread and it came into being.
Varsity- 52
Sophs- 35
Fresh- 22
After going to the Fall Kickoff Festival- Cross Country, golf, swimming, soccer, volleyball, and basketball have a bunch of kids out for these different sports. The band alone has as many as the ISU band does. Ames also has one of the best swimming programs around along with being one of the best academically.
Baseball and softball wise it's difficult due to compete as we don't have just the one sport student athletes like the Des Moines schools do. I've had Gilbert people mention to me about combining baseball and softball in order to compete.
What it comes down to is $$$. You now have the "country club" school in Gilbert, as that is where the Ames growth is at north of Bloomington Road. All that money goes to Gilbert schools. Look at CFH for instance, he went to Ames, as his parents lived in the district. He comes back and moves in the Gilbert district due to the new housing developments. Sure the money goes to booster clubs, but still its a draw for families moving into the Ames area. Look at Ankeny and Waukee with the housing explosion they have seen and the need for new schools.
If Ames does decide to build a new school, will that draw people to open enroll or moving into the Ames district? I don't know if it would or not.
I wanted to bring this up in the other thread about consolidation and districts, but thought it probably deserved it's own thread and it came into being.
Lived in Ames for 40 years? huskerclone as a username? Kids and grandkids lived in Gilbert?
You ever been in the Ag department for ISU?
That's funny I just saw a ranking on MSN yesterday of the best public schools in each state and Ames High was #1 lol
In addition to most of the growth in Ames being in Somerset and north of Bloomington, I think it's also noteworthy that a pretty decent portion of the population growth is ISU students who declared Ames in the census and such. There was a huge push encouraging them to do that. While there are thousands of ISU students who obviously have kids, there are more who don't.
Ames has elite academics and some parents don't want to open enroll or move within city limits and have their kids to compete with Ames' talent. Also, it's easier to succeed in sports going to Gilbert with less competition and playing smaller schools
i was figuring that article would get discussed on cf.
#1: the growth of the des moines suburban high schools is stunning! waukee from 250 to 2400? johnston, ankeny, etc....those schools were 1A/2A podunk schools 25 yrs ago and now they're huge!
where in the heck are the D1 bball players from all these 2000+ student high schools?
#2 given all that growth, its pretty pathetic how slowly ames has grown. what a missed opportunity.
#1: the growth of the des moines suburban high schools is stunning! waukee from 250 to 2400? johnston, ankeny, etc....those schools were 1A/2A podunk schools 25 yrs ago and now they're huge!
where in the heck are the D1 bball players from all these 2000+ student high schools?
#2 given all that growth, its pretty pathetic how slowly ames has grown. what a missed opportunity.
Rep. King announces house hearings, white people ain't making enough babies!
I was told and experienced the same. 25+ years ago Ames (the school at the very least) definitely didn't want country kids even if that meant limiting future growth and it was hard to open enroll into Ames.
I don't know if it's an Iowa thing necessarily. I graduated with 500+; my ex graduated with 17 (Washington didn't consolidate schools back then). My HS experience was that you had to "specialize" ie, you couldn't participate in multiple extra-curriculars because there simply were not enough slots for all those wanting to fill them. In my ex's experience, there were very little extra-curriculars offered because there simply weren't enough live bodies to fill the rosters, cast list, etc. We wanted something in-between...and chose a school system that had ~120-125 per class. Big enough for multiple options for participation & classes, small enough to be ABLE to participate in multiple options. Bonus - the teachers & principles knew ALL the kids, not just the rabble rousers.
Part of me was surprised that the bond vote did not succeed and part of me was happy. The stadium and pool were 100% necessary IMO (too bad they couldn't get the new YMCA sooner and that could have taken care of the pool problem). The biggest issue people had was the continued spending without addressing the elephant in the room. Then they had the audacity to give the district communication director a $4k bonus for his hard work on it.
I really do feel bad for the older buildings (one of which our kids will attend) that were going to get renovations out of this deal. Hell if you dug into it one of the things they were planning to do was fix windows on a K-5 school that don't lock! Why the hell don't they find the money in the yearly operating budget to fix stuff like that?
Muholland was a terrible Superintendent but this new guy is just as bad if not worse.
If you look at the Ames School District boundaries (Iowa Dept of Education), there's no land new residential development within its boundaries. So, the City of Ames is growing, but within other school districts, almost entirely Gilbert. Without ongoing new residential development, residential neighborhoods that are approaching 10 years old begin transitioning into empty nester neighborhoods: Dad and Mom are still there, but the 2+ kiddies have gone off to college or green pastures. Families who move into new neighborhoods all tend to be about the same age, with roughly children who are roughly the same age.
Eventually SOME empty nesters move out, or die, and are replaced by families with students, but that may take another 20 years for the neighborhood to turn over, depending on the type of housing, ie the "ultimate dream homes" take a long time, starter or "step up" homes not as long.
So, one should expect a continuing drop for another decade or so, not as steep probably more of a bell curve. But, not likely to EVER reach a new peak, unless one of the adjoining school districts agrees with the Ames District on a boundary change: has to be mutual. That doesn't happen often, but can.
Eventually SOME empty nesters move out, or die, and are replaced by families with students, but that may take another 20 years for the neighborhood to turn over, depending on the type of housing, ie the "ultimate dream homes" take a long time, starter or "step up" homes not as long.
So, one should expect a continuing drop for another decade or so, not as steep probably more of a bell curve. But, not likely to EVER reach a new peak, unless one of the adjoining school districts agrees with the Ames District on a boundary change: has to be mutual. That doesn't happen often, but can.