Searching for Paradise
<p>Chloe Youde and Brenden Vanderwall sit in an almost empty classroom at the Paradise School Wednesday as their teacher Shana Smith walks them through the lesson plans. The school plans to close its doors on May 24 after over a century of providing education to its students.</p>
**Editor’s note: this is the fourth article in a four-part series, which looks at how local economies are doing throughout Sanders County.
For over one hundred years, the elementary school in Paradise has served as the setting for childhood education in the small town. In a few days it will be vacant, not just of students enjoying their summer vacation but of everything. The school is closing its doors due to lack of enrollment and state funding.
With only five students enrolled this year, the school’s funding from the state will be limited to a few thousand dollars. According to school board chair Karval Pickering, that is simply not enough to sustain an institution used to an annual budget of around $200,000.
“There are numerous reasons why the school is closing,” said Pickering. “Enrollment is down statewide but here we don’t have enough families sending their kids to the Paradise school,” said Pickering.
“Children and families can choose where they want to go. The kids that do go here are from Plains,” said Pickering. “And we don’t have any kind of industry in Paradise to support people moving here.”
Pickering cited a dwindling population in Paradise as a cause of many economic woes in this part of Sanders County.
“Stores are closing, people are leaving,” said Pickering. “And this is essentially a retirement community now.”
As four of the five students played outside during recess, Paradise Elementary school teacher Shana Smith recounted better days in the past.
“When I started three years ago, there were about 30 students. Last year there were around 15 or 16 kids. We started this year with seven students but a family moved away so now we have five,” said Smith.
Smith cited many of the same reasons as Pickering for the closure of the 103-year-old school.
“It really all came down to finances. If we don’t have enough kids here we don’t get enough funding. A lot of kids are home-schooled. Families are moving away. There’s no jobs here so people have to move to where there are opportunities,” said Smith.
Smith and the remaining staff including teachers, Karen Willoughby and Rick Kendall, will be out of work in a few days. The school will maintain a custodial staff to look after the building even after the doors are shut.
“It’s hard. We had that one-on-one attention with the kids, we had a computer for every student. It’s a real shame that the school is closing,” said Smith.
Smith and Willoughby have been team teaching the school’s two first-graders, two fifth-graders and one sixth-grader as opposed to earlier years where the grades and subjects were split up. Smith teaches reading, writing and science while Willoughby instructs the students in mathematics, history and spelling.
While the students will most likely attend school in Plains next year, the future of the historic schoolhouse is not so clear. According to Pickering, the school board has three years to decide what to do with the building. Pickering said ideas include turning the building into a community center.
“We hope to keep it a functioning entity. Closing the school is already removing a common denominator from the community,” said Pickering.
Smith is now faced with a familiar problem in Sanders County, finding employment. Smith said she is applying for jobs at Plains area schools including a job as a librarian at the high school. Her enthusiasm to find employment thinly masked her sadness at losing a job she clearly cherished.
“I loved teaching here. I don’t know if I’ll be fortunate enough to find another job where the school board cares so much about the kids and the teachers. They truly care about these kids. I’m really, really sad that the school is closing,” said Smith.
On May 24, the students at the Paradise Elementary School will have their last day of class and begin summer vacation. The staff at the school will begin the search for new jobs. Paradise will lose yet another entity that bound the community together.
As the building that overlooks the town of Paradise is locked up for the last time as a school, this community will be faced with the question of what to do to preserve a piece of its history, heritage and legacy.