ADVENTURE WITH HOPE: School Moves To Church

Hillside Elementary students are getting ready to move.  The school in West Des Moines is under construction for at least the next two months.  The district found a temporary location for classes, but is still working out the details and answering parents questions.

“When you`re asked to move 600 students with less than three weeks to school beginning, that can really put a scare through you,”  says Hillside Principal Dr. Robert Davis.

The school had to rip out and replace all the windows because of recurring leaks and mold problems.  The project won’t be done in time for the first day of school.

“It was a mind shock,” says parent Carrie Murray.

At an informational meeting this morning, she still had a lot of questions, but at least the shock is wearing off.

“When we found out, yes they`re moving the whole school it kinda eased our fears way down,” she says.

“It`s very clear that they put a lot of thought into this and at the end of the day, our kids have a safe place to be and they`re going to get the education that we expect them to get,” says parent Carol Dawson.

Hillside will start making the move to Lutheran Church of Hope this week.  The church is setting up 24 classrooms for the first eight to ten weeks of school rent free.

“The first thing we always worry about is student safety,” says Davis.

The biggest challenge every day will be busing all the students to and from the church.  Parents who want to drop off their kids are asked to use the Jordan Creek entrance.  It`s the one with the stairs.

The district came up with a relocation plan it hopes will be as stress-free as possible for students, staff and parents.

“It`s going to be Hillside`s Adventure with Hope.  That`s our slogan and we`re gonna have a great school year,” says Davis.

“More comfortable, but still extremely apprehensive,” says Murray.

Classes at Lutheran Church of Hope begin on August 21st.