From what I’ve heard from the school committee and seen in the newspaper, there seems a perception that closing Pearl Rhodes Elementary School would be easier than closing Warwick Community School. I would love both schools to stay open if at all possible, but I’m here to talk about what’s happening in Leyden.
I have seen a lot of resistance in town to closing PRES. When the information about the deficit surfaced, there was a community forum held at the school with many administrators, Leyden and school-choice parents, and community members. What I heard in that meeting was that our community wants to keep our school open and are worried about what it would mean for our town if it closed.
A lot of ideas were floated on how to manage that and how to raise our school enrollment. Out of that meeting, we were able to start a Local Education Council and that committee has been working on these issues. We have been able to get money from the town to start a before-and-after-school program, as not having one has been listed as a big reason why parents choose to send their kids elsewhere.
We’ve also decided to pilot Project Based Learning for next year, which we hope will draw more students into town and allow our students to connect with the community. So, please don’t get the idea that Leyden doesn’t care, or that it would be easy to close PRES. Our actions have been quiet, but we are taking concrete action to make our school sustainable.
Abigail Pratt
Leyden