GREENFIELD — As Center School students gathered outside the Bernardston Road campus, sitting behind fires and boiling tree sap to make maple syrup, a chart inside the building showed that the school has raised more than $800,000 toward its $1 million goal that hopes to ensure this type of education can continue.
In an effort to balance its operating budget within the next two to three years amid rising costs and declining enrollment, the school launched the “Save the Center School” campaign last fall, with hopes of raising $1 million by June to keep the school running while a more long-term strategy is drafted.
“We’ve been feeling really hopeful. I think the way that the community has shown up for us, whether it’s attending events, whether it’s donating their time, whether it’s donating their money,” Center School Director of Admissions and Advancement Emily Redman said, “it’s really made us feel really hopeful.”
The Center School, a private school teaching students in preschool through eighth grade, was founded in 1981 under the nonprofit Northeast Foundation for Children (NEFC). Its 30-acre campus at 739 Bernardston Road was opened in 2021, leaving its former campus on Montague City Road, which was later rehabbed into apartments.
Lauren Obregón, interim co-head of school, previously explained that interest payments on the new campus’ $5.5 million mortgage amount to $200,000 per year. Inflationary increases for utilities, services and basic supplies, along with a 13% enrollment decline in the past two years, have resulted in an annual deficit of more than $400,000 for the school.
“Our operational budget’s deficit has ballooned to over $400,000,” Obregón said in November. “The demographics are just getting older in Franklin County, and that’s led to what some admissions folks and independent schools refer to as an enrollment cliff. … There are fewer kids of the age where they would typically enter independent schools. It’s the higher cost of everything, and the fact that we now have a much higher debt load from this incredibly stunning and wonderful new campus that we have.”
Discussing the fundraiser’s progress so far, Redman explained that the school has amassed roughly $813,000 — a sum that she said was largely acquired through donations from community members and fundraisers.
One particular community member, Redman said, offered to donate $10,000 to the “Save the Center School” cause if all families donated. She added that the school is also hosting fundraisers to boost the campaign in advance of the next fiscal year.
“We’re in the middle of a participation campaign for our current families. We have a generous donor who has said if we have 100% of our families participating, giving any amount — that means $1 or more — if they’re just showing up and saying, ‘We believe in this place, too,’ [the community member] offered to give $10,000 toward the campaign,” Redman explained.
Future fundraising events are on the horizon, including an “Alternaprom,” an adults-only evening of dancing, coupled with a silent auction, on Saturday, April 4, at 7 p.m. Bidding opens on Friday, March 27. More information is available at centerschool.net/alternaprom.
“We’re having an alternate prom and auction on April 4, and we have a lot of teachers and community members volunteering one-of-a-kind experiences,” Redman said, “so things like, go on a hike with a favorite teacher, or we have our heads of school offering to babysit, pottery classes, things like that. It’ll be a fun night of dancing and hanging out, plus an auction here.”
As Redman described some of the unique curriculum and programming that the school offers, she made note of the students boiling sap outside — a relatively new tradition that began after sixth grader Sage Savitri first proposed the idea in class during the early years of the pandemic.
Amy Jackson, the teacher for kindergarten through first grade, said the tree-tapping tradition began at the former campus on Montague City Road to propel outdoor learning.
“I’ve always really liked fires, so I think I wanted to do something with the fire, and I like food,” Sage said. “I really just wanted to make my own maple syrup and thought it was interesting, and they (school administrators) ran with it.”
Redman said the fundraising has brought about a greater effort to involve the broader Greenfield community in some of the Center School’s more fun activities.
“One thing we realized and I think one thing we hope for the school is that it becomes more of a part of the community, so we’re trying to host more community events,” Redman said. “We’re starting to think about having after-school programs and classes for adults also, as a way to just be a part of the community. We’re so lucky to have this property, but it’s set back from the road and I think people don’t know we’re here necessarily, or don’t know about the space. … We’ve been thinking of ways to connect with the larger community in a way that I think kind of got lost during COVID.”