Farmington details East Farms-to-Noah Wallace transition; preschool to move into Westwoods spaces

District administrators updated the Farmington Board of Education on April 8 about elementary enrollment changes tied to the closing of East Farms and other space moves slated for the 2025—26 school year.

The lede: Dan, who is leading the elementary enrollment work, told the board that “we have approximately 60 students at East Farms planning on transitioning to Noah Wallace.” He said the transition team is managing requests for exceptions and balancing enrollments.

Why it matters: the reassignments affect families, routes and classroom allocations for multiple schools and require coordinated communications, some facility alterations and a limited number of exemptions for families who request to keep children at their current school.

Details and logistics: Noah Wallace held an open house Feb. 13 that drew about 50 of the 60 families identified for the move; student ambassadors led tours and families were invited to other district events to promote familiarity. The district is allowing current third‑grade families to request a one‑year stay at East Farms (fourth grade) provided they supply their own transportation; district staff said they have received “a handful” of such requests and are “cautiously optimistic” they can honor most of the third‑grade requests but will decide case‑by‑case to avoid unbalancing class sizes.

Facilities and schedule: the district plans classroom refreshes, carpeting and painting as rooms become available, and work on Westwoods bathrooms and a pre‑K playscape has been designed and will go to bid; staff said those projects are expected to be completed by early summer. Dan said the team will finish responding to family requests “later this week, early next week” so principals can proceed with preplacement work after April vacation.

Preschool placement: Westwoods will host the district’s preschool (pre‑K 3 and 4). District staff said they will create four preschool classrooms at Westwoods and will finalize enrollment via the district’s randomization/lottery process already in place; staff said demand is high but modifications have been made to improve transparency in the admission process.

Transportation and exemptions: administrators reiterated that families granted an exemption to remain at their current school must provide their own transportation. The district said it will respond to exemption requests as they arrive and will balance decisions against class‑size constraints.

Community engagement: the board was told family‑engagement staff called every family to document concerns and questions and that principals and PTOs have been active in welcoming transitioning families. The board asked for continued outreach and for timelines so families know decisions before preplacement and staffing work begins.