By Stephen Floyd
Community Roots School is discontinuing its middle school program due to low enrollment and will change to a K-6 format beginning this fall.
During an April meeting of the Silver Falls School District Board, School Administrator Christen Kelly said enrollment in 7th and 8th grades had experienced “considerable decline.”
The district’s class size dashboard said ten students remained in the program, less than half of the average for other programs at the school.
Community Roots School is a public Montessori charter school that contracts with SFSD.
Kelly said they were already recovering from enrollment declines after the COVID-19 pandemic. When the adolescent program fell further, she said the school’s board, its administrators, and leadership team made the decision to cancel the program.
“While the decision was difficult to make, it allows us to reinvest our resources back into our K-6 classrooms,” said Kelly.
This comes after the school recently moved its adolescent program into the Silverton Grange Hall. The Montessori model uses an agriculture-based curriculum for 7th and 8th grades, and the added space of the Grange Hall, including a garden outside, helped fulfill these requirements.
To prepare for the students, the building was renovated in early 2022 with help from SFSD and a grant to upgrade utilities and internet.
Kelly said the move into the Grange Hall added expenses due to building maintenance and utilities, which contributed to the decision to close the adolescent program. Kelly said the school’s relationship with the Silverton Grange has not ended and told Our Town she is hopeful “there could be partnerships in the future.”
When asked if they plan to revive the program, Kelly said this was unlikely for the time being.
“A future adolescent program would be dependent on several factors, most of all enrollment and funding,” she said. “Given our projections, this might not be feasible for the foreseeable future.”
