As of Tuesday, during the first full week of the 2011-12 school year, the district reported having 11,250 students in kindergarten through 12th grades. The totals include students from throughout Kansas attending the Lawrence Virtual School.

The district’s unofficial enrollment total is up by 526 students, or 4.9 percent, from the comparable date for 2010-11, an academic year that had started with 81 fewer students than the previous year.

If the increase holds up — districts report their official headcounts Sept. 20 to the Kansas State Department of Education — the district would receive more money from the state, as calculated using a statewide financing formula.

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The first class to graduate high school from Genesis Christian Academy conceivably could do so a year from now.

GCA recently announced it would be offering high school classes through Lawrence Virtual School, an accredited school through the Kansas State High School Activities Association.

A student entering his senior year who has completed all state requirements could then graduate next May.

Administrator Sharon Beeman said it was more likely the school would have students start in lower levels, but the academy currently is accepting students enrolling in high school.

For the rest of the article, go to Genesis Christian Academy to add high school courses

The celebration will be the last for the school, at least for a while. On March 28, members of the Lawrence school board voted to close Wakarusa Valley at the end of the school year, a move intended to save nearly $500,000 and to help improve the efficiency of the district’s remaining school buildings, given the upcoming move of sixth graders into middle schools next year.

District administrators are discussing options that could include moving the district’s Lawrence Virtual School to the site, a plan that would keep the building maintained and therefore also available for community events and organizations.

For the rest of the article, go to First Bell: Wakarusa Valley invites public, seeks yearbooks, for 50th anniversary event; Eudora boosts fees for all-day kindergarten; four Lawrence elementaries expected to remain without full-day K

Wakarusa Valley School will close at the end of this school year, but it may not remain closed for long.

Less than a week after members of the Lawrence school board voted to close the elementary school just southeast of Clinton Lake — a move expected to save the district $487,000 a year — administrators now are busy compiling options that could reopen the building for different uses.

The leading contender: Relocate the Lawrence Virtual School from its current home at the former Centennial School, south of Lawrence High School, to the 50-year-old building on 10 acres at 1104 E. 1000 Road.

Such a move would give Wakarusa Valley a tenant that would be paying for operations out of a different operational budget and ensure that Cub Scouts, Girl Scouts, 4-Hers, Rural Water District No. 5, sports teams and area families could still utilize the building and grounds for meetings, games and other happenings.

For the rest of the article, go to Wakarusa Valley building may stay in use as new location for Lawrence Virtual School