Whatcom students and staff heading to 3 schools
Whatcom Middle School students and staff will be relocating to Bellingham High, Fairhaven Middle and Geneva Elementary schools.
The change starts Thursday, Nov. 12. The relocation is due to a fire that roared through the school Thursday morning, Nov. 5. The fire investigation is on hold until the structure can be stabilized enough to enter.
An information meeting for Whatcom families will be on Monday, Nov. 9 at 6:30 p.m. in Bellingham High School’s auditorium. An emergency school board meeting will be held at 5:30 p.m.
Students and staff will attend school based on the following plan:
- 8th graders and their teachers will attend Bellingham High. BHS staff are shuffling rooms to allow the middle school students to have their own wing.
- 7th graders and their teachers will attend Fairhaven Middle School.
- 6th graders and their teachers will attend Geneva Elementary School, which has seen an enrollment drop of nearly 150 students since the opening of Wade King Elementary.
Information about electives, transportation, sports, insurance claims, how to help and more will be avialable at the Monday meeting.
The schools were chosen partly for the quickness with which Whatcom students and staff will be able to return to class.
For more information, check out the Bellingham School District news release here. When I return to work on Monday, I’ll start gathering more information about insurance, what the plan for the building is, why Lowell Elementary wasn’t used, what the financial impact to the district will be and what will happen to Whatcom students and staff in the long-term.
November 9th, 2009 at 5:49 am
How about some information and care for the teachers at the other schools who have to move out of their rooms, elective teachers who have to begin teaching new groups of students, and those affected by the fire who aren’t WMS teachers and students? They have hardships too. Everyone is being compassionate toward WMS teachers and staff but they are not the only ones going through a hard time.
November 9th, 2009 at 10:10 am
Trixie-
The plan for how student will be relocated was only released late Friday afternoon. I have not had a chance yet to find out which teachers and students at the new “host” schools will be affected by this shuffling and transition. More of that information will be available starting today, and I do plan on doing a story about that.
November 9th, 2009 at 4:44 pm
Trixie, You are selfish. The current teachers at Geneva have been wonderful to their new colleagues. If your are wondering about crowding or children to adult ratios at the three host schools, don’t! WMS students are bringing their teachers with them.
You are selfish. WMS teachers in the building have lost EVERY personal teaching tool and supplies they own. A real hardship is loosing 25 years of teaching materials, not loosing square footage in a room.
Go have your pity party somewhere else or home school your child.
Kira, don’t wast you time looking for negative stories. We don’t need that. The focus should be on the displaced teachers, staff and our children.
November 9th, 2009 at 7:19 pm
WMS parent,
You are not correct about that. Yes the teachers and students at WMS did lose everything and that’s a tragedy but there are teachers who are moving out of their classroom and others who are sharing supplies and sharing their classrooms with the WMS teachers.
I was just making the point that the teachers at BHS and FMS were also displaced, not that they are selfish.