Beginning next fall, all entering ninth graders will be required to attend high schools under new boundaries approved by the Kenosha Unified School Board earlier this month.

The boundaries changed to accommodate the new comprehensive high school being built on the west side of the district, north of where Indian Trail Academy is located at 6800 60th St.

In January, the district will hold open houses for parents whose children expect to attend one of three comprehensive high schools in their home attendance areas: Bradford, Tremper, and the new Indian Trail comprehensive high school scheduled to open in the fall of 2010.

Indian Trail High will enroll only a freshman class in its first year and will add a grade level each year until the fall of 2013, when it will have students in all four grades.

The separate Indian Trail Academy will continue. It consists of specialized programs in biotechnology and environmental studies, business and international studies, communications, and the Kenosha Military Academy.

Since the approval of the new boundaries, Dan Tenuta, Unified executive director of school leadership for high schools, and Indian Trail Academy Principal Beth Ormseth, who will also become principal of the high school when it opens in September, have been busy answering questions about the new school and about about what students already in high school can expect.

Here are some questions that have been frequently asked:

Q: If my child is attending high school, will he or she be “grandfathered,” or allowed to attend the same school next year?

A: Yes, says Tenuta. Starting with the 2010-11 school year, all incoming freshmen (ninth-graders) must attend their boundary high school, unless the student is accepted at a district magnet or charter school. Magnet or charter schools include LakeView Technology Academy or the Kenosha School of Enhanced Technology Curriculum.

Q: What happens during the second and subsequent years under the new high school boundaries?

A: Beginning with the 2011-12 school year, students living within the Indian Trail High School boundaries who are already attending either Bradford or Tremper may opt to remain at their respective schools through graduation or transfer to Indian Trail. Indian Trail boundary families who remain at Bradford or Tremper will be responsible for providing transportation to their respective schools.

Q: Will my child be able to transfer to Bradford or Tremper high schools?

A: In 2010-11, any ninth-graders wishing to attend a high school other than his or her boundary school will be required to complete a transfer request. All, 10th-, 11th- and 12th-graders can continue attending Bradford or Tremper. By 2011-12, any ninth- and 10th-graders wishing to attend high school other than their boundary school will need to apply for a transfer. All 11th- and 12th-graders will follow the grandfathering clause.

“Kids who are already at their high schools will be able to stay at the high school where they’re connected during that first year,” said Ormseth.

“What you don’t want to have is people not following the boundary rules,” added Tenuta, who has also anticipated parents asking whether siblings can stay at their old boundary schools because their brothers and sisters attended it in the past. Tenuta said the number of transfers would be limited by the enrollment capacities established for all three comprehensive high schools.

Q: Will the ninth-grade course offerings at the new Indian Trail High School be similar to those of Bradford and Tremper?

A: Yes.

Q: Will the music programs at Indian Trail Academy and the new high school be combined?

A. Yes.

Q: Will busing still be offered to academy students?

A: Yes.

Q: What sports will be offered at Indian Trail High School?

A: In 2010-11, freshman sports already offered at Bradford and Tremper will also be offered at Indian Trail; offerings will be expanded to include sophomores by 2011-12. In 2012-2013, a full program will be offered, including varsity sports, with participants from both the academy and the comprehensive high school.

Q: How many teachers will be at the new high school the first year? What about when all grade levels are present?

A: With the first year enrolling only ninth-graders, 15 to 16 teachers will be on staff, according to Tenuta. Once all four grade levels are present, the high school will be staffed with 63 teachers and the academy 57, according to Ormseth.

For additional information or answers to specific questions parents can call Tenuta at 359-6008 or Ormseth at 359-8700.