The Stillwater Area Public School district is building two new elementary schools in Lake Elmo and Bayport to address overcrowding and accommodate the region’s growing population. Rapid population growth throughout the east metro has caused existing schools to become run-down and overcrowded, creating challenges for students and staff. In fall 2023, voters approved a bond to fund construction of the new schools, which are expected to open in fall 2026. The bond also allows for improvements to the high school and Oakland Middle School.
Modern school designs aim to meet the needs of all students and staff by providing flexible and accessible learning spaces. The schools need to have bigger spaces and flexibility for students who have specific needs, for example, needing extra assistance throughout the day.
“Our new playground will have everything connected by ramps, and if a student is in a wheelchair, accessibility to the first and second floors of the school will be great,” Lake Elmo Elementary Principal Katy Pupungatoa said.
Currently, neither Anderson nor Lake Elmo elementary schools have space for flexible learning, making collaboration difficult for students and staff.
“They’re going to be spacious; we’re going to have lots of room. The way we designed it was really where we can share students and really free flow between the four classrooms,” Janet Parent and Juli Ekren, Anderson’s second-grade teachers, added.
The district expects to welcome more than 1,000 new students and families by 2033 due to continued housing development in the area. At the moment, teachers at both schools have had to move their classrooms into different spaces to consider the needs of their students each year.
“We also know there’s a lot of growth, especially in Lake Elmo, and our current Lake Elmo is just not big enough,” Carissa Keister, the district’s Chief of Staff and Executive Director of Strategic Communications, said. “Same with Anderson. It’s a small building, and so it’s just not efficient when you have 300-some students.”
The new schools are scheduled to open in fall 2026, making the Class of 2039 the first kindergarten class to complete all five years of elementary school in the new buildings.
“We will definitely have an open house, grand opening kind of thing, and a ribbon-cutting to let people come in and see the buildings, “Keister added.
Both Lake Elmo and Anderson schools are more than 100 years old and cannot accommodate the number of kids in the school every day anymore.
Parent and Ekren explained that these are over 100-year-old schools, are it will definitely be a big change.
As District 834 moves through the 2025–26 school year, Pupungatoa and other staff members often say, “One more year!” as excitement builds across the district. An open house is planned before both schools open to give students, families, and community members a preview of the new facilities.
