St. John School Expanding - KXNet - Bismarck/Minot/Williston/Dickinson

St. John School Expanding

A tiny town near the Canadian border is adding on to its school - again - as enrollment continues to rise.
St. John is located about ten miles north of Rolla - and about three miles from the 49th parallel.
And students keep streaming in.

The relatively new school building has already had two additions - including one just a few years ago.
Still, middle school students have had to be shipped to temporary classrooms across the athletic practice field in recent years.
Now, the district is ready to break ground on a 3-point-2 million dollar project that will bring the middle schoolers back to the main building with all the other students.
The elementary principal says enrollment has been growing steadily for many years.

(Paul Frydenlund, St. John Elementary Principal) "When I started in St. John 12 years ago enrollment was 277.  Last year we were as high as 368 for K-12 and right now we're probably looking at 380, 385 for this year.  About the last six, seven years we've had to turn down about 30-40 students per year because we limit our classroom size."

The construction work at St. John should begin by the end of August.