Transition To Grade Level Banding Going Smoothly For Little Falls

LITTLE FALLS (WJON News) -- A change at two Central Minnesota schools is going smoothly in its first year. The Little Falls Community School Board approved Grade Level Banding (GLB) last February.

Paul Habstritt, WJON

The plan to change Lincoln Elementary to preschool through grade 2 and Lindbergh Elementary to 3rd through 5th grade was implemented this fall. Superintendent Greg Johnson says teachers and staff worked hard to make the change as student-friendly as possible:

"One of the things that has gone really well is transportation, we were very anxious about how our transportation changes would go and with shuttling students back and forth between the district and that's gone kind of surprisingly well."

Johnson says they staggered the start times at all the schools to help parents with kids at multiple locations. He says the community's support of the change has helped ease the transition as well.

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Paul Habstritt, WJON

Before the change, both Lincoln and Lindbergh Elementary were kindergarten through 5th grade schools. Lindbergh Principal Larry Edgerton says the work they did ahead of time paid off:

"The transitions been really smooth, we spent a lot of time planning and prepping before the whole transition took place visiting some of the schools in Sartell that were doing it , Big Lake and so we got information from them, and then we made it our own and we put a lot of planning and prep ahead of time which has paid off now in this transition to make it even that much smoother for the staff, for the students, and for the parents."

Paul Habstritt, WJON

Edgerton says an advantage they didn't anticipate was having one Parent Teachers Association, and having all the resources for one grade in the same building has been a win too. Dr. S.G. Knight Elementary in Randall is the other grade school in the district and remains a kindergarten through 5th grade school.

Paul Habstritt, WJON