The public school options near the Washington County towns of Withrow and Marine on St. Croix are changing this school year.
The two elementary schools that served the towns have closed as part of the Stillwater school district’s effort to reallocate resources. That means many students from the northern part of the district will now be bused to other schools, a move that has caused consternation among some parents.
Into that void comes River Grove: A Marine Area Community School, which will open in the Wilder Forest in several buildings that have been used as schools and for professional retreats. The property, which is on Ostlund Trail North in May Township, is owned by the St. Paul-based Amherst H. Wilder Foundation, a social services organization.
The kindergarten through sixth-grade charter is expected to have about 200 students when it opens in September.
As a charter school, it is supported by public tax dollars and will not charge tuition.
River Grove’s curriculum will use hands-on, project-based learning with a focus on the environment, local heritage, art and science, said Kristina Smitten, chair of the school board. It will be a “teacher-powered” school, where educators will play key roles in oversight and governance.
Smitten says giving teachers more control over their school and their lessons was a key factor in the decision to start the new school. Board members picked the Minnesota Guild, a leading authorizer of teacher-powered schools, to oversee the school for the state.
“The board feels very strongly that when staff is empowered, students will feel empowered,” Smitten said.
That approach appealed to Jackie Henschen, who will teach first grade at River Grove, the latest chapter in a career that has included home schooling, parochial schools and working with students with special needs.
“The teacher-powered concept is amazing for me because I feel like I have a voice,” Henschen said.
Smitten added that River Grove’s founders worked to hire a mix of seasoned and less-experienced teachers to create a balance of ideas. That means long-time teachers like Henschen will be working alongside rookies like Luke Hallbeck, a Hamline University graduate and former AmeriCorps math tutor, who will have his first class of fourth-graders.
“It’s a lot, but it is exciting,” Hallbeck said as he worked to get his classroom in shape in mid-August. “I’m up for the challenge.”
The curriculum and staff River Grove has devised attracted parent Scott Demars, who will have two students at the school. Taking a break from helping at the school one afternoon, Demars said he wanted his children to have a more classical education that had a holistic approach to learning and character development.
“It is not just about what you know,” Demars says, “but how you emotionally relate to what you know.”
River Grove has been in the works since the spring of 2015, about eight months before Stillwater school leaders went public with their “Building Opportunities to Learn and Discover,” or BOLD, plan that included closing the Marine, Withrow and Oak Park elementary schools. Smitten acknowledges interest in River Grove grew after school board members approved the BOLD plan.
A large number of the school’s incoming students attended Withrow and Marine until those schools closed last spring. River Grove has a waiting list for its first and second grades and enough third-graders to fill two classes.
Marine on St. Croix city leaders are hopeful River Grove, or another school, will one day occupy Marine Elementary School. Shortly after the school’s closure was announced, city leaders began working to buy the building.
“It is important for the village,” said Robin Brooksbank, a former city councilwoman who is on a committee working to determine the future of the school. “They see having a school in town as important to the long-term vitality of the village.”
Smitten said that there would be benefits in moving to a more accessible location but that River Grove leaders haven’t committed to moving if the building becomes available.
“We’ve really been focused on what we are doing here,” she said.
