GREAT NEWS: REPLACEMENT CLASSROOMS FOUND!

Ridgeline Montessori's Board of Directors is very pleased to announce that we have accepted an offer from District 4J of four classrooms to replace some of the space lost to last week's fire.  This gives us six classrooms -- guaranteed -- for the coming school year, and we are continuing to explore additional options.  Two of the classrooms are those that survived the fire at the old Willard School site where we have been located for the past nine years.  The "new" four are located at the old Dunn School property at 34th and Willamette Street in Eugene.  We will also have some office space and special education space at Dunn.  Additional issues yet to be worked out are many, so stay tuned.  But, for now, let us pause and celebrate this significant achievement.

Ridgeline Montessori is indeed rising like a phoenix from the ashes!  It has been just one week since the fire, and yet we have secured space and begun ordering our beautiful Montessori materials.  When our office called one of our major suppliers, we learned that not only can we expect delivery on our orders in about 10 days, we may be able to get a significant number of items on sale and possibly even with free shipping!  Plans are underway, too, for a family-friendly fundraising event aimed at defraying expenses not covered by insurance.  We can also report that some committees established at last Saturday's community gathering are getting underway with their tasks:  The garden committee, for example, has been rescuing trees and bulbs from the Willard site for replanting later.

We know that operating a two-campus school will pose challenges for both our staff and our families, but with two administrators on staff, we believe the situation will be very manageable.  We also anticipate spending more on rent than we have been spending of late, which will impact our budget now and in the future.  But, after evaluating or looking at some 23 commercial and institutional site options across the metropolitan area, we are more convinced than ever that the best housing for a school is a school.  We saw several sites that could have been made functional for us, but readying some would have taken more time than we had available.  What's more, the investment required would have taken a heavy toll on the resources we have available to spend on our core mission of educating kids.  Being offered the opportunity to remain a tenant of District 4J is a huge gift to us, and our gratitude to 4J's Faciltiies folks and the Leadership Team led by Superintendant George Russell is almost inexpressible.

The space we will be occupying is currently housing Arts Umbrella, a wonderful organization that provides music education to young people in our community.  4J will be providing the program new space elsewhere, but a move is always stressful, especially when it's unplanned, so we all need to recognize that just as District 4J has been heroic in finding us space, Arts Umbrella has been heroic in its willingness to make the puzzle pieces fit for us.  Let us show our appreciation by being considerate.  Please do not attempt to visit Dunn School during business hours, when Arts Umbrella is giving lessons and holding summer camps.  If there is an opportunity to visit the site before or after some necessary remodeling and repairs, we will let everyone know about it and schedule it. 

Our next step is to survey our parent community and determine how many students we should plan for in the fall.  We will do this, as much as possible, by email.  Please watch your inbox and reply as soon as possible -- don't put it off!   We are looking for your very honest assessment of where your children will be in the fall, because our state funding is tied to our enrollment numbers.  The results of this survey will inform the board's decisions regarding programs and staffing for the fall, but other factors will be considered as well.  We intend to have a clear sense of what the school will look like in the very near future.

Thank you all, for your faith in Ridgeline Montessori and your commitment to seeing our Project Phoenix succeed.  We couldn't do it without you!
 

Comments