GLENDO – For the first time in three years, the Glendo Eagles will now boast a high school at the small town of just over 200 people. In 2023, the high school portion of Glendo School was closed due to lack of enrollment at the time. Since then, when there have been high school aged students among residents, Platte Co. School District No. 1 has offered to bus the students to the only operating high school in the district in Wheatland.
This year, things will be different after arrangements have been made to re-open Glendo High School.
Superintendent John Weigel said there was an eighth grader whose parents wanted to see continue their education in Glendo. “With many meetings and agreement of the board, we found a way to re-open the high school,” he said.
The superintendent said there will be one teacher hired specifically as a high school teacher (preferably an internal hire), who will do face-to-face classes with Glendo High School students, and other teachers already on staff who have high school certifications will also teach specific classes – integrating the students into the multi-grade classrooms already the norm in Glendo. There are currently electives available at Glendo School, and any core subjects which are not able to be taught by that combination of staff will be administered via a virtual education program.
Glendo principal Tom Waring said the online program with live support has been used with success at Peak High School in Wheatland. “It is something tried and true in the district, and I understand the kids seem to enjoy it (the online schooling program),” he said.
“We want to offer opportunities for kids to go to high school in Glendo if they want to. I was previously principal in Chugwater when it was a K-12 school, so I have experience doing credit assessments to make sure students are on track,” Principal Waring said. “It’s a great opportunity, and it’s good for the community. We want to do what’s best for the kids.”
Superintendent Weigel added, “The thinking is that if we have the option, we may gain students; already there is a student from Douglas interested, so enrollment has possibly doubled…Glendo High School may be a good option for secondary students in (or outside of) the district, or for homeschool students looking to see if there is a different option.”
Any students from Wheatland would be bussed to the Glendo if they want to attend the smaller school.

“As a small school district, we need to be flexible and think outside the box, because we (and other districts across the state) continue to lose students,” superintendent Weigel said. “Our obligation (as an entitlement district) is: if people live in a community, we are supposed to provide education.”
Last year, Glendo School changed to a four-day-a-week school model which will be continued next year, so the new high school will follow the same schedule. Principal Waring said the four-day school week has worked well for Glendo. “This past year it has worked great. We’re still waiting for full assessment data, but all the preliminary checks I’ve done have shown nothing has changed for education markers. The students and staff like it: if we keep the students and staff happy, we’re doing something right.”

The community’s perspective
Excitement surrounds the reopening of the Glendo High School.
For parent Leigh Hill, she thought it was wonderful that they are reopening the school, “I was stressing over where we were [going to] send Carlee for high school. I didn’t like the idea of having to bus her anywhere. Rachel (Carlee’s older sister) had such a great experience in Glendo from the time she started all the way through her senior year, and we wanted the same for Carlee. We are very grateful the high school is open.”
When speaking with Amanda Meredith about her son, Jacob, attending high school, she said, “We lived in Glendo when all our kids were born and they all attended school there and loved it. Everyone in our immediate family graduated from Glendo, and his grandparents on Nick’s side did too. Jacob would like to graduate from the school he started out in. Not very many kids have that opportunity to attend the same school all the way through high school. He misses the community he had while he attended there and the individualized help from his teachers you can only get from small schools.”
Both Jennifer Eller and Kevin Teten, educators in Glendo, think that getting the high school open is a building block to getting the sports program and FFA program back.
Eller said, “If we do get more kids that decide they want to come to high school here, that’s going to be a big lift to the community. People don’t have anything to do in the wintertime, so it’s great to get the community involved and come to the games and support the school.”

Teten said, “I think that we are giving opportunities that most schools can’t; a place with flexibility and a four-day week.”
Both felt that it was important to get students into the building to help utilize the classrooms to avoid deterioration from lack of use.
Within the community, the reopening of the school is positive, overall.
Marge Sanborn commented, “I’m excited! It’s our entertainment!”
When talking to Caitlin Achziger, she said, “When it (the high school) closed, I was upset. I know we didn’t have the students, but the school is sort of a backbone in the community. Now I’m happy again, and I hope that parents in the community decide to send their kids to Glendo.”
When asked about her thoughts on the reopening of the high school and the effect it will have on the community, Michelle Wright said, “I think reopening Glendo High School this fall is a really positive step for our community. With a population of just 200, every opportunity to invest in our town’s future counts– and reopening the high school signals growth and momentum. It shows that we’re not only retaining families but attracting new ones, especially those with younger kids who want to raise their children in a supportive, close-knit environment with strong educational opportunities. A local high school means students don’t have to travel long distances every day, and families feel more rooted here. It also brings back a sense of community pride and tradition. In the long run, this could lead to more development, more housing, and more services– all of which support sustainable growth for Glendo. It’s not just about reopening a school– it’s about building a future for our town.”