Lab School Students Thriving at Laramie Middle School, District Data Shows

Nearly eight in ten students who transferred from the University of Wyoming Lab School to Laramie Middle School made the honor roll in their first semester, Laramie Middle School Principal Kevin O'De told the Albany County School District 1 Board of Trustees at its first March meeting Wednesday.

Of the 42 students who moved from the Lab School to LMS when the institution closed, 40 remain enrolled at the middle school. Two chose to homeschool. O'De presented data showing the cohort had also accumulated 11 positive postcards and 15 positive referrals, the district's recognitions for strong behavior.

"Of those students who are at the middle school, 77% of them made the honor roll in the first semester," O'De said. "Those students have earned 11 positive postcards and 15 positive referrals. I think those two things suggest that the students are doing well both behaviorally and academically."

The results come after a turbulent stretch for the Lab School community. The University of Wyoming and Albany County School District 1 hit a stalemate last summer over renewing their memorandum of understanding governing the school's tenancy. UW announced it would pursue only a one-year extension through the 2024-25 school year, leaving the institution without a path forward. Officials cited the Lab School's diminished role in teacher training, maintenance costs for the 75-year-old building, and district-wide enrollment trends as factors in the closure decision.

A bipartisan legislative bill sponsored by Laramie Democrat Chris Rothfuss would have required UW and a coordinating district to operate a K-8 public lab school. The bill cleared the Senate but died in the House in February, ending the last serious effort to preserve the school.

Albany County Superintendent John Goldhardt framed the outcome as one the district has worked to manage responsibly. "The University of Wyoming Board of Trustees made a decision to close the Lab School," Goldhardt said. "We are moving forward with that decision and preparing a positive transition for former Lab students to their neighborhood schools."

Not everyone involved experienced the transition as smoothly. Meredith McLaughlin, who spent more than two decades as head teacher at the Lab School, alleged that difficulties predated the closure by several years. She said that when longtime principal Margaret Hudson retired three years ago, Goldhardt hired a replacement without input from the university or other stakeholders. "Brooke Fergon was appointed as a principal; she was elected with zero stakeholder input. She fired and threatened staff. Plenty of those teachers lost those jobs and she was moved into an assistant principal position at Laramie High School," McLaughlin said. Goldhardt declined to address the staffing allegations directly. "It would not only be illegal, but highly unethical to discuss personnel issues," he said. Fergon did not respond to a request for comment.

Among the teachers who lost their positions, 11 Lab School staff members lacked tenure and were not initially placed in district schools. One of them, Lotzer, a Laramie native, accepted a position at Cheyenne East High School while her own children continued their schooling in Laramie. "It's been tough," Lotzer said. "I would have rather stayed in Albany County."

The Lab School itself traces its origins to 1887, when it opened as the Preparatory School to serve students from Wyoming counties without access to high school. It became a public district school through a partnership with Albany County School District in 1999, operating as a school of choice with lottery enrollment.

The first-semester honor roll numbers suggest that whatever disruption the closure caused, the students who landed at LMS have found their footing on Gibbon Street.