The Appleton Area School District Board of Education met 03/31/2025. During that meeting the Board received an update on the move of Columbus elementary into Edison Elementary. Currently, they had 26 Columbus students who had confirmed they would be attending Edison, 16 who were unsure, 11 who were moving out of the district and would not be attending AASD schools at all, and 8 who were going to be attending a different AASD school.
Assistant Superintendent Nan Bunnow reviewed the steps that were being taken to educate the families about the move and facilitate the transition.
I’ve prepared a transcript of the discussion for download:
There is an Edison/Columbus transition team in place and they have four work groups that are implementing different projects to help facilitate the transition.
1. SAFE ROUTES TO SCHOOL – This work group is partnering with the City of Appleton and the Safet Route to School organization to determine realistic walking route from the current Columbus attendance area to Edison Elementary. The existing Edison attendance area already had lightbulbs painted on the sidewalks that identify safe walking routes, and the work group will be working to paint similar lightbulbs on sidewalks of the former Columbus attendance area.
2. INTRODUCING EDISON TO THE COLUMBUS STUDENTS – On the afternoon of May 14th all of the students in 4th grade and below will have the opportunity to visit Edison and tour the building. This visit coincides with the scheduled visit of the 5th graders to Kaleidoscope Middle School. The work group will also be putting together some videos about the building and the staff that can be shared with students who aren’t able to participate in the trip.
3. TRANSITION EVENT – This work group is planning an event where not just the incoming students but also their families can come and tour Edison and familiarize themselves with the building and staff.
4. LINK CREW – This work group is working on a program that will pair current Edison students with small groups of students that are new to Edison. This is not just for Columbus students but any new students who are arriving at Edison. They plan for this to be an ongoing program that lasts beyond this upcoming year.
There were also some miscellaneous tasks that the groups were working on. Assistant Superintendent Bunnow highlighted that they were going to be creating a Columbus Commemoration event at the end of the May that would provide an opportunity to Columbus families as well as alumni to come to the building and recognize its historical impact on the District.
Additionally, they needed to follow up with some of the Columbus families who had not yet indicated what their plans were for next year. The families of 16 students had indicated they were unsure whether they would be attending Edison or not. Those families now needed to be followed up with to confirm if they would be attending Edison or not.
View full meeting video here: https://www.youtube.com/live/5s46odnMO_o?si=d-vSO2KUM0hvdAPN
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