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SPRING HILL, Kan. – In less than three weeks the Spring Hill School District will open its fifth elementary school.

Dayton Creek Elementary School, at 21120 W. 188th Terrace, will welcome more than 200 students for the 2021-2022 school year. 

Christopher Villarreal, director of communications and education engagement for the USD 230, said Spring Hill is one of the fastest growing school districts in the state and the new building will help keep up with the growing number of students within the district.

“All of our elementary buildings have a maximum capacity of around 500 students. None of them are quite to that number yet,” Villarreal said. “We are trying to stay ahead of the growth curve, so that way none of our buildings get over capacity and we can maintain a good student to teacher ratio in all of our buildings.” 

Villarreal said for the 2021-22 school year there will be an average of 21 students per classroom. 

“We had our walk-in enrollment yesterday, so right now we are sitting at about 216 students. I anticipate that number will grow quickly as homes that are going up around us,” Dayton Creek Elementary Principal Darcy Sly said. 

Voters passed a bond issue back in 2018 to pay for the construction of the new school.

The $21,500,000 building will serve students in Kindergarten through 5th grade from Spring Hill’s district, which includes portions of Olathe and rural Johnson County. 

Dayton Creek Elementary will feed into both Spring Hill Middle and Woodland Spring Middle. The school district will open a third middle school for the 2023-2024 school year. 

“Last year our district added STEM to the curriculum. Now we have a STEM class that all of our students, Kindergarten through 5th grade go to once a week. It’s a wonderful offering for them,” Sly said. 

The new building features a computer lab, colorful hallways and flexible seating options for students in the classroom and in the library. 

“Our school is a wonderful place for some flexible learning. What that includes is flexible seating for students. That allows students who need a little more wiggle room while they are learning to get the wiggles out. We’ve got little oodles,” Sly said. 

Flexible seating options inside Dayton Creek Elementary classrooms.

On July 28, the school district will host a dedication and ribbon cutting ceremony for the new school starting at 6 p.m.

Dayton Creek will host a Back to School night on August 16 from 5 p.m. to 6 p.m.

The first day of school will be August 18. Online enrollment for the 2021-2022 school year will be available through July 30 at midnight. Parents can find more information on enrollment on the Dayton Creek Elementary School website.