The Ridgefield School Board voted Wednesday, Sept. 9, to change the district’s elementary configuration from K-4 to K-5 effective 2026-27, and to name its third elementary school Sunset Ridge Elementary.
The new school, scheduled to open in August 2026, will take on the name and mascot of the current Sunset Ridge Intermediate School, which currently shares with View Ridge Middle School.
The K-5 shift comes after voters approved a levy to fund the district’s third elementary school in February, which will accommodate 500 to 550 students. Last year, Union Ridge and South Ridge held around 700 students each, well over their standard capacities.
A new elementary school, which costs roughly $52.5 million, will receive $15 million of its funding from a February-approved levy. The remaining costs would be covered by $21 million in developer-paid impact fees and $16.5 million in state funding.
Superintendent Jenny Rodriquez emphasized that the shift to K-5 is not a criticism of the current Sunset Ridge Intermediate School.
“It is no judgment on the amazing work of our Sunset Ridge staff,” she said. “No judgment, because what happens there is beautiful, but the overcrowding is a real thing.”
Of 1,099 district residents, mostly parents, surveyed in a recent school district poll, the majority favored the elementary configuration and name changes. Survey results also guided the board’s naming decision. A majority supported keeping the Sunset Ridge name and the Coyote mascot.
“I am recommending to you that we maintain the Sunset Ridge (name),” Rodriquez told the board. “Everyone's cool coyote gear is still able to be worn.”
Current Sunset Ridge Principal Todd Graves and Assistant Principal Stephanie Goad have been selected as the leadership team for the new elementary school.
Board member Jake Bredstrand added a lighter note during the discussion.
“The geography nerd in me has to point out that Sunset Ridge would be the most eastern campus of our three elementary schools and the furthest from the sunset, and I just had to say that,” he said. “But I will still allow it.”
