Following unanimous approval from the Fountain Hills Unified School District Governing Board, Four Peaks Elementary School and Fountain Hills Middle School have been merged into a single entity.

For the past six years, the two entities have occupied the same campus, though operated under separate bell schedules and running separate bus routes.

Over the past several months, Superintendent Dr. Patrick Sweeney has been working with district staff and local parents to determine what would need to be done to merge the two schools, what issues might arise, etc.

During the April 12 School Board meeting, Dr. Sweeney was joined by Principal Anita Gomez and Director of Transportation, John Flynn, to present their findings.

According to their presentation, keeping the schools as separate entities on the same campus created some challenges for parents and caused a staggered and lengthened schedule for classified and administrative staff.

As was pointed out during that initial meeting, operating as separate entities inhibited efficiency and reduced a variety of opportunities for students and staff.

These benefits of a merge include a consolidated bus schedule, the expansion of club offerings for grades four through eight, buddy classroom collaboration, expansion of cross-grade tutoring and school spirit events that include the entire student body. Additional benefits, according to Gomez, include easier scheduling for staff, unified extracurricular activities and teacher development.

Flynn presented the board with a proposed bus route that he argued would provide easier scheduling for his drivers, as well as parents.

The proposed, and now approved, new bell schedule boasts an 8:30 a.m. start time and a 3:10 p.m. release time for grades 4-8.

Now approved, the two entities will simply be known as the Fountain Hills Middle School, beginning with the 2017-18 academic year.