Crown Point Community School Corporation: New Schools in the Future? (Hammond: transplants, how much)

[valpofan11]

With the way Crown Point Community School Corporation is growing, do you think there will be a need to build a or multiple new schools in Winfield Township? There have been CPCSC residents in the Winfield/LOFS area that have wondered if another elementary, a new middle, and/or possibly even a new high school (once CPHS enrolls more than 3,000, which it is close to) would be built in Winfield Township.

I drove through the area last week, and several new subdivisions have homes being built like crazy, at least compared to NWI standards. These subdivisions include Copper Creek, The Regency, Pentwater, Wynbrook, Providence at Stonegate, and I think Ellendale Farm is finishing up. More land is available in CPCSC for future population growth. Thoughts?

[Northwest Indiana]

Originally Posted by valpofan11

With the way Crown Point Community School Corporation is growing, do you think there will be a need to build a or multiple new schools in Winfield Township? There have been CPCSC residents in the Winfield/LOFS area that have wondered if another elementary, a new middle, and/or possibly even a new high school (once CPHS enrolls more than 3,000, which it is close to) would be built in Winfield Township.

I drove through the area last week, and several new subdivisions have homes being built like crazy, at least compared to NWI standards. These subdivisions include Copper Creek, The Regency, Pentwater, Wynbrook, Providence at Stonegate, and I think Ellendale Farm is finishing up. More land is available in CPCSC for future population growth. Thoughts?

While still decently priced compared to other areas of NWI, some subdivisions like Ellendale Farms and Copper Creek with its higher price points are less likely to have many families with small children. The buyers in those subdivisions will mostly be move-up buyers with older children or even some empty nesters or soon-to-be empty nesters. Now the other subdivisions you listed (like The Regency and Pentwater) with its lower price points are loaded with families already and will continue to be for a while. I do think that CPHS is still a while away from reaching 3000 students, if ever. It would really take the Winfield area to really triple/quadruple in population for CPHS and other schools to see major increases. The elementary schools have not really seen major increases in population in the last few years, but this could also change as the population in the city grows overall. A lot of these young families have children that may not even be school age yet so who knows. I do think that it would be nice if Winfield had its own middle school and high school instead of them having to travel all the way to Colonel Wheeler MS or CPHS. Even if Winfield had a 6-12 school, or reconfigured Winfield Elementary to K-3, Jerry Ross Elementary to 4-6, and a new Winfield Jr/Sr High School being 7-12, it would be beneficial. They would not need to reorganize the other schools in the district either (School City of Hammond does this as Morton High School and Hammond High School are both 9-12 whereas Gavit Middle School/High School and Clark Middle School/High School are both 7-12. Then they also have Eggers Middle School and Scott Middle School which are both 6-8).

[valpofan11]

Originally Posted by Northwest Indiana

While still decently priced compared to other areas of NWI, some subdivisions like Ellendale Farms and Copper Creek with its higher price points are less likely to have many families with small children. The buyers in those subdivisions will mostly be move-up buyers with older children or even some empty nesters or soon-to-be empty nesters. Now the other subdivisions you listed (like The Regency and Pentwater) with its lower price points are loaded with families already and will continue to be for a while. I do think that CPHS is still a while away from reaching 3000 students, if ever. It would really take the Winfield area to really triple/quadruple in population for CPHS and other schools to see major increases. The elementary schools have not really seen major increases in population in the last few years, but this could also change as the population in the city grows overall. A lot of these young families have children that may not even be school age yet so who knows. I do think that it would be nice if Winfield had its own middle school and high school instead of them having to travel all the way to Colonel Wheeler MS or CPHS. Even if Winfield had a 6-12 school, or reconfigured Winfield Elementary to K-3, Jerry Ross Elementary to 4-6, and a new Winfield Jr/Sr High School being 7-12, it would be beneficial. They would not need to reorganize the other schools in the district either (School City of Hammond does this as Morton High School and Hammond High School are both 9-12 whereas Gavit Middle School/High School and Clark Middle School/High School are both 7-12. Then they also have Eggers Middle School and Scott Middle School which are both 6-8).

Good assessment, other than the fact that CPHS had 2,823 students last year, a significant increase from the previous year (IDOE: Compass). It does depend on if the class sizes in CPCSC continue to grow each year. Factors such as migration growth from Merrillville (flight), Ridge Road corridor (move up buyers) and Illinois transplants (taxes), new developments in Center and Winfield Township will be pivotal as it will be interesting to see if migration continues to CPCSC to help increase incoming kindergarten class sizes and established class sizes. CPCSC will also become more diverse and this could help to grow the district enrollment as well.

[Northwest Indiana]

Originally Posted by valpofan11

Good assessment, other than the fact that CPHS had 2,823 students last year, a significant increase from the previous year (IDOE: Compass). It does depend on if the class sizes in CPCSC continue to grow each year. Factors such as migration growth from Merrillville (flight), Ridge Road corridor (move up buyers) and Illinois transplants (taxes), new developments in Center and Winfield Township will be pivotal as it will be interesting to see if migration continues to CPCSC to help increase incoming kindergarten class sizes and established class sizes. CPCSC will also become more diverse and this could help to grow the district enrollment as well.

In rethinking this, yes, CPHS can definitely surpass 3,000 students however, how much bigger would the school actually get? The increase from the previous school year was a little over 5%. From 13/14 to 14/15 they lost 2 students so otherwise they were stable. Crown Point has definitely attracted new residents from many different places but the majority of the growth in new housing seems to be stemming from the Merrillville area or move-up buyers from within Crown Point. There are also quite a few Illinois folks from the Chicago Heights/South Suburban area moving to CP and Winfield too.