District 93 celebrates opening of Willow Creek Elementary

AMMON, Idaho (KIFI) — Bonneville Joint School District 93 is celebrating the opening of Willow Creek Elementary, a new school built in one of the district’s fastest-growing areas.

District leaders are holding a grand-opening ceremony Thursday evening, with several speakers scheduled before the ribbon cutting later in the event.

Superintendent Scott Woolstenhulme said the new school is intended to do more than simply add classroom space. He said Willow Creek allows the district to place an elementary school closer to families in an area that continues to grow, while also creating new options for how D93 uses existing school buildings.

“But what it’s done is it lets us put a school into an area that is continuing to grow, to really support the families that live there, and then let us repurpose a different school in an older part of town to be a new magnet school in our school district,” Woolstenhulme said.

Willow Creek also marks a change in how District 93 designs its elementary schools. Woolstenhulme said it is the first D93 elementary school in about 30 years to use a different building design, giving the district an opportunity to rethink how the space serves students and staff.

The school’s opening comes during a busy stretch for education projects across Eastern Idaho. College of Eastern Idaho recently opened its new Future Tech Building, while Rigby High School celebrated the opening of its new fieldhouse earlier Thursday.

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District 93 says Willow Creek is part of its broader effort to keep pace with growth while making better use of existing school space across the district.