Like those experts, Nibley Park sixth-grader Nick DeBirk favors the K-8 concept, in which students remain at an “ele-middle” school until they enter high school in ninth grade. Nick told the Salt Lake City School District Board of Education why he wants Nibley Park converted to a K-8 before his class gets shipped off to junior high school:

“We already have experience here with the teachers and the other students. We won't be all shy, and we're not going to be all frazzled.”

Last year, the Salt Lake school district began considering the K-8 concept for schools that feed into Hillside and Clayton junior high schools, citing the success of K-8 schools in other areas and the need to increase choices for families. Thirteen schools formed local committees to study K-8 models, but eleven decided against pursuing the idea. Two schools, Nibley Park and Whittier Elementary, began creating proposals for becoming K-8 schools.

At Tuesday's meeting of the Salt Lake school board, Nibley Park principal Doug McLennan made his school's request official, asking the board to approve Nibley Park as a K-8 school. The school would expand to include seventh-graders next year, and eighth-graders the following year.

The proposal calls for building a school addition containing a gymnasium, science area and extra classrooms, and increasing the teaching staff by five. McLennan believes ongoing costs would be covered if the money that follows students to junior high school was re-routed to his school.

McLennan favors a K-8 model that resembles an elementary school more than a middle school, with students receiving most instruction from a homeroom teacher. His proposal calls for math and science specialists who could serve as a resource to all grades.

Salt Lake Superintendent McKell Withers isn't sure yet how much money would be needed to get a new K-8 school running and make it sustainable, but he supports the Nibley Park community's interest in new ideas.

“It is important to turn the community loose to figure out how to better serve kids,” Withers said.”

Lisa Hilden, whose children attend Nibley Park, likes the K-8 idea. Hilden said Hillside Junior High School is too far away from her neighborhood, prompting many Nibley Park graduates to move on to Granite District's Evergreen Junior High, which is closer than Hillside.

“We don't feel a part of the Hillside community,” she said. “I never have.”

The school board could make a decision about Nibley Park's future at its meeting next month - a near-necessity if McLennan's dream of starting the new addition this spring is to become a reality.

No one spoke against the K-8 proposal at Tuesday's meeting, which didn't surprise McLennan.

“Parents can still choose to send their students to Hillside - or Evergreen,” he said. “They haven't lost any choices. They've gained one.”

cbaker@sltrib.com