Willow Creek near ready for May ribbon cutting; board approves summer hours and schedule changes discussed

Willow Creek Middle School is nearing opening, Principal Dr. Jane Bidding told the board, with most teaching and office positions filled, major furniture and library orders arriving and classroom technology being installed. The board heard a timeline of family engagement and orientation events, including a public ribbon-cutting scheduled for May 6 and open-house opportunities May 6–7 and May 11 (sixth-grade orientation).

Bidding emphasized culture-building work, staffing progress and logistics for onboarding students and staff; she said the school now has a school number (0078) to support PowerSchool scheduling and that support positions (nurses, custodial, instructional assistants) are the next hires in May. She also previewed extracurricular planning and community outreach for the school’s opening.

On operations, the board approved a change to summer hours, moving to a four 10-hour workday schedule for the administration center and schools from June 1 through July 24, with public hours 8 a.m.–4 p.m. and most buildings in unoccupied mode on Fridays. Administration said the change is expected to modestly reduce utility and operational costs.

Separately, high-school and middle-school leaders proposed moving to consistent seven-period bell schedules (with optional homeroom and an end-of-day, teacher-led 'success time' at middle schools for study hall and math intervention). Administrators said a consistent schedule will simplify CTE/work-based learning placements and create structured intervention time; those schedule changes were presented for information and implementation planning.