Estacada SD 108 to split elementary grades; parent committee shaping pickup, bus and shuttle plans

Superintendent Ryan Carpenter announced during a district Facebook Live that Rivermill Elementary will become a kindergarten–second grade campus and Clackamas River Elementary will house third through fifth grades beginning next school year, a change the district says will balance enrollment and ease capacity pressures.

Carpenter said Rivermill currently enrolls about 530 students while Clackamas River has just under 400. "By moving to a K–2/3–5, we'll have roughly about 400 students in each building," he said, adding the shift should reduce Rivermill's on-site population by about 120 students and shorten pickup congestion.

The superintendent described a parent-led committee that has met twice to design traffic flows, yellow-bus routing and shuttle options and to plan communications for families. Topics raised by parents, Carpenter said, include establishing dedicated pickup lanes, creating shuttle connections so siblings can travel together, and extending safe walking paths to the Hillway Road neighborhood.

The district is already assigning teachers and classrooms so families and students have continuity: "Many of the teachers that your kid has had or is going to have are also coming with them to that brand new school," Carpenter said, noting that keeping familiar staff on site is intended to reduce anxiety during transition.

Carpenter emphasized the move is intended to be operationally ready for students on day one next year. He outlined a June timeline to prioritize the physical move—packing, furniture transfers and custodial staging—and said the district will hold open houses and tours so students become familiar with new buildings.

Transportation remains a significant focus. Parents raised that transfer buses cause some students to leave class early; Carpenter acknowledged the issue and said the committee is exploring schedules and routing changes to minimize lost class time. "Our primary goal with this is to maximize student time in the classroom and minimize student time on the bus," he said.

Carpenter linked the elementary reconfiguration to broader capacity concerns at Estacada High School, where he said current enrollment is about 560 and the building's listed capacity is roughly 1,000. He warned growth could stress facilities in two to three years and said past bond packages failed to reach the 50.1% approval threshold; district leaders said they intend to seek community input before proposing another bond.

Next steps: the parent pickup committee will continue deliberations, district staff will complete move logistics in June, and officials will publish detailed pickup, shuttle and bus-route plans once finalized.

Attribution: Quotes and attributions in this article are drawn from Superintendent Ryan Carpenter and were read in question form by Communications Director Maggie Kelly during the livestream.