FORT COLLINS, Colo — Getting ready for a new school year can come with a mix of feelings for students, who are anxious but also excited.
"I'm excited about seeing my friends, and I'm stressed. I don't know. It's just a much bigger building," 8th grader Clara Drees said.
Liberty Common School, chartered by Poudre School District, is expanding its junior high.
The school recently acquired commercial buildings on River Bend Court to create a new junior high facility.
"There's probably around 1,000 (students) that are on our waiting list right now, and that's not evenly distributed. That's mostly at the elementary level, and it tends to taper off at the junior high and high school level, so we're full," said Bob Schaffer, headmaster of Liberty Common School.
Schaffer said the expansion creates new opportunities for families in the region.
"Now the extra space that is created in this junior high and the high school, that's the biggest change in terms of enrollment and opportunity for families in Northern Colorado," Schaffer said.
The charter school's expansion stands in stark contrast to district-wide trends in Fort Collins.
Poudre School District is seeing a sharp decline in enrollment, partially due to declining birth rates, high housing costs, and a sharp dip in the number of school-age children in Fort Collins.
"I think having our standalone junior high is going to really serve those students well in some years that can often be a little challenging for kids as they're growing up," said parent Patrick Albright.
Parents say the additional space could benefit their kids and the community.
"I think it's really beautiful that with this expansion we're able to open up more seats, that even students in seventh, eighth grade, high school, they can still come and be a part of it," said Alyssa Balfour, another parent who speak with Denver7.
Students are looking forward to what the expanded space has to offer as they return to class next Monday.
"I think, definitely, looks really pretty nice, but — and the hallways will be less crowded, I think. But you could travel, or you need to go a lot farther during the five minutes, so that might not be fun. But I'm excited about the gym and all that," Drees said.
