District Administration
Welcome to Prairie School District RE 11-J: Prairie School District is located in Northeastern Colorado on the grasslands between the towns of New Raymer and Stoneham. The school is conveniently located at the intersection of Highway 52 and Highway 14, about thirty miles from Sterling and twenty-seven miles from Fort Morgan.
The District serves students from the two mentioned towns and surrounding communities, as well as many students who reside outside the district border. Prairie School District has a long tradition of excellence, school pride, and community involvement.
The school was formed in 1966 with the construction of the former school building and was a consolidation of the New Raymer and Stoneham school districts. We were a recipient of a BEST grant which allowed Prairie students to have a 21st-century school building beginning in the 2013-2014 school year. Vocational organizations include FFA and FBLA which are important educational programs as they provided students relevant, applied learning opportunities with an emphasis on personal growth and student leadership.
Furthermore, our school athletic programs help students learn physical fitness, leadership, and ethical conduct in and outside the school setting. The Board of Education is involved in working with administrators and setting annual goals for the school. They are actively involved in education and development activities as evidenced through attendance at CASB and CBOCES functions.
Certainly the school continues to strive toward excellence and take pride in student growth and community involvement. The school has a student population of 175 students in grades pre-school through twelfth. Our enrollment continues to increase each year and the District continues to strive to meet the varied educational needs of all students. Our students, whether in-district or out-of-district, enjoy the educational benefits available at many small schools, “a private school education at a public school price.”
Our school year typically starts around the third week in August and runs through the third week in May. We all enjoy a standard 4-day school week (with a few exception year to year), Monday through Thursday. Students have an eight period day with school starting at 7:50am and releasing at 3:41pm. Students have the opportunity to eat homemade meals from our fantastic food service staff. Breakfast is served beginning at 7:30am and lunch is 11:20"ish" for elementary and 12:20"ish" for junior high and high school students.
We pride ourselves in having a low teacher to student ratio capping our class size at 16. We offer many different programs/organizations for our student to participate in, such as FBLA, FFA, NHS, Gifted and Talented enrichment, intervention support, math and science contests, concurrent enrollment at accredited post-secondary institutions, athletics, vocational education, senior capstone, foreign language, fine arts classes (band, choir, and art), library, knowledge bowl, and many other for individualized interests. Our Prairie School District Administration unit is comprised of 5 people: Interim Superintendent Chris Burr, TOSA DaShanda Bringelson (Teacher On Special Assignment, Principal Role, incoming July 2024), Counselor Danielle Ramseier, Chief Financial Officer Lana Hickey, and Office Manager Michelle Ross.