COLORADO SPRINGS — During a parent town hall Thursday night, Colorado Springs School District 11 (D11) officials said they plan to welcome back sixth and seventh graders to Jenkins Middle School in the fall.
In a previous update sent to parents on March 5, school officials said they were still determining whether seventh and eighth graders would return to the building next school year.
D11 Superintendent Michael Gaal said Jenkins eighth graders will remain in a separate wing at Doherty High School for the 2025-2026 school year.
The Jenkins Middle School building temporarily closed in January after it was deemed unsafe due to cracks in the walls and significant foundation settlement.
Covering Colorado
Jenkins Middle School to close because of unsafe conditions
Gaal said portions of the Jenkins building have been cleared for use, including academic and community spaces for sixth and seventh graders. He said the seventh and eighth-grade wing will no longer be used and a design-build team is currently developing plans for a new academic wing. D11 said it will bring in more mobile units to support Jenkins sixth and seventh graders coming back to the building in the fall.
As for other parts of the Jenkins building, D11 said the school's gym is expected to be ready at the start of the 2025-2026 school year. School officials said the media center is anticipated to open by Jan. 2026.
Tiffany Hoover, a mom of an incoming sixth grader, said she debated whether to send her son to Jenkins Middle School in the fall.
"It was kind of a question mark until tonight until we found out some more information. Just having no clue if they were going to have any students in the building next year or where those sixth graders would be housed and what that would look like," she said." "[The school] just came across that they're taking it seriously and committed to communicating with the families and everything."
If you missed Thursday's town hall, you can find the district's presentation here.
News5 Investigates first discovered the unsafe conditions of the school in January. The structural damage was severe enough that D11 had to close the building for the remainder of the school year.
WATCH: Building conditions at Jenkins MS in Colorado Springs 'unsafe', may require closure
Covering Colorado
Jenkins Middle School to close because of unsafe conditions
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