UW Offers One-Year Extension of Agreement for School District Lab School

The University of Wyoming has offered Albany County School District 1 a one-year extension of a memorandum of understanding for the district’s UW Laboratory School to operate on the university campus, after the district took no action on a proposed extension of the agreement that expired in July 2023.

The K-8 Lab School, which has been part of the local school district since at least 2008, was allowed to operate on the UW campus during the past academic year in spite of the district’s inaction on the agreement. For several reasons, the university anticipates that any extension of the memorandum of understanding will be for only the 2024-25 academic year. Those reasons include:

-- The Lab School, designated as a school of choice in the school district, no longer serves a significant role for teacher training in UW’s College of Education.

-- There are challenges regarding security with having a Lab School, which is operated by the school district, located on the university campus.

-- The fact that the Lab School operates in a facility not owned by the school district is incongruent with aspects of the state’s public school funding model and construction process.

Additionally, discussions between UW and school district leaders have indicated that the district -- facing declining enrollment and related financial concerns -- is considering streamlining its operations in other school buildings in the community.

“Change is often difficult, but we have reached a stage at which continuing the current relationship beyond one year wouldn’t be optimal for either the district or the university,” UW President Ed Seidel says. “We do, however, intend to work together on a stronger, broader partnership with the district to promote the best interests of both parties, and most importantly, Wyoming students. We have had positive discussions about the future that include deepening the relationship with the College of Education as well as other units of UW, with potential areas of collaboration ranging from languages to computing.”

The Lab School’s history dates to 1887, when a UW Preparatory School was organized “for the benefit of students from counties not provided with complete high school courses.” The Preparatory School became the Training High School in September 1913, and the name was changed to University High School the following year.

In later years, the school was variously known as the Training Preparatory School, the Secondary Training School and the University High School. The University High School ceased in 1973, but a K-9 school continued under the UW Lab School name.

The first agreement between the university and Albany County School District 1 for the Lab School to be operated on the UW campus was reached in 2008. It was renewed in 2013 and again in 2016, when the Lab School became a K-8 school, with a capacity of up to 270 students. Another extension was signed in 2019 and expired in July 2023.

“We know that many of our faculty and staff members have enrolled their children in the UW Lab School and that they will be impacted by this,” says UW Provost and Executive Vice President Kevin Carman. “Fortunately, there are other outstanding schools in the local school district available to serve UW and other families.”

The UW College of Education and other units of the university historically have collaborated with the school district to provide practicum and observational experiences for pre-service teachers and other UW students at the Lab School. Those experiences will continue to be delivered through partnerships with both Albany County School District 1 and other districts across Wyoming.