HOLLAND — Holland Public Schools will close Jefferson Elementary after this school year, and its students will go to West Elementary or Nature-based Holland Heights starting in fall 2027. Parents can see the new neighborhood school zones Wednesday, Oct. 28, at a 6 p.m. meeting in the Jefferson cafeteria.
The closure is the hardest part of the district's five-year facility plan, which cuts Holland's neighborhood elementary schools from three buildings to two and turns Jefferson into the permanent home of Holland Language Academy. The district says the change is about running fewer, fuller buildings so more of its general fund goes to classrooms.
Finding your new school: The new lines will be shown at the meeting. Under the timeline Superintendent Nick Cassidy laid out in a March update, the boundaries go to the Board of Education for approval in late fall 2026, and families will be told in spring 2027 which school they're zoned for in 2027-28. The current attendance map shows today's zones.
Transfers: Under the district's current internal transfer rules, families who want a school other than their zoned one file a request during the open enrollment window. The request form is due May 1. Requests are granted based on space, parents must drive their children to and from a school they transfer into, and approved students are grandfathered into that school. The district has not said publicly whether Jefferson families will get any different process; that is on Wednesday's agenda.
Cassidy first announced the five-year facility plan in March 2025. It consolidates the district's elementary programs into three buildings: Nature-based Holland Heights, West Elementary and Holland Language Academy. In his March 2026 update, Cassidy said the plan will "right-size the district by consolidating elementary schools" and "reduce operating costs so that our General Fund is used to support teachers and students." He wrote:
"Three of our Elementary Schools are currently operating with 2 sections (classes) or less per grade level. Two-section schools are very difficult to run efficiently. Three or four section buildings have the flexibility to protect low class sizes without being a significant financial burden on the district."
Jefferson's zone was picked to split because Holland Heights is the district's only building east of US-31, and West has room for four classrooms per grade, Cassidy wrote. Splitting Jefferson "will allow Heights to operate as a 3-section building and West to operate as a 4-section building."
To make room, the district has added one classroom per grade at both Heights and West through bond-funded renovations. Cassidy called the consolidation "the most difficult aspect of these changes" and said Jefferson staff "have done an amazing job of creating a great community of learning and growth, but as a district, we need to right-size."
Jefferson had 254 students in kindergarten through fifth grade in 2024-25, according to federal school data, with grade sizes from 35 to 52.
After Jefferson closes, the building will be renovated as the permanent home of Holland Language Academy, the district's Spanish-English two-way immersion school for preschool through fifth grade. HLA now operates in the Van Raalte building at 461 Van Raalte Ave. The district has said Jefferson will give HLA more classroom, playground and parking space, all of which are limited at its current site.
The work is paid for by the $49.2 million bond voters approved in August 2025 with 71% of the vote. MLive reported the Jefferson renovation would cost about $15 million. Early planning covers classroom layout, rebuilding the kitchen and serving area, extended learning areas and basic updates, according to a facilities report in the February 2026 board minutes.
The timeline for HLA's move has slipped. Earlier district updates said HLA would move in for the 2028-29 school year. The district's latest announcement says the renovated building will be "ready for students in the Fall of 2029." Cassidy's March update said the Van Raalte building will be vacant in fall 2029 and that the district will explore selling it.
Parents with questions can call Holland Public Schools at 616-494-2000.
Photo courtesy of Holland Public Schools.
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