Roosevelt Elementary students start year at other schools due to construction

OGDEN, Utah — Weber School District students go back to school Wednesday, but students from Roosevelt Elementary will not be on their own campus this school year. 

Outdated building

Roosevelt Elementary has been torn down, and a new campus is being built on the existing land. 

“Roosevelt was built back in the 1950s, no air conditioning,” said Lane Findlay, the community relations and safety specialist at the Weber School District. “[There were] just a lot of difficulties when you’re trying to run a school with one outlet in a classroom.”

Students slated to attend other schools this year

While construction is underway, Roosevelt students will go to one of four other nearby elementary schools, depending on their grade. Kindergarten and third grade will be at Burch Creek Elementary. First and fourth grades will attend H. Guy Child Elementary. Second and fifth grade students will go to Washington Terrace. Sixth graders will attend Uintah Elementary.

“They will complete this entire school year at those surrounding schools, and then Roosevelt will be open to bring those students back next year,” Findlay said.

Allie Schneiter’s kids will go to two different schools. She says she felt welcomed at her children’s host schools’ back to school nights.

“The teachers are really putting a lot of emphasis on, ‘We’re all on this together and it’s going to be a great year, even though it’s going to be a little chaotic to get used to at first,'” Schneiter said.

She says that while they are trying to make the best of it, her kids still have some concerns.

“We definitely had to have some big conversations about what it’s going to be like going to a new school and merging with the existing school and then getting ready to go back to regular school next year,” Schneiter said. “There’s the worry that some kids might not be as welcoming, but our kids are going to try their best.”

The school district projects the building will be complete by August 2025. Costs, provided by a bond, are expected to total around $46 million.