RIDGEWAY COMMUNITY SCHOOL

Thanks to a substantial donation of a very generous family, we completing the construction of an addition that will provide much needed space for our preschool, music, art, and theatre, programs and free up space in our library.

But we need your help to finish this project. We need to raise $100,000 in order to complete our new stage, art, music, and preschool rooms ready for our students to use by this fall. Please consider making a tax deductable financial contribution to our Phase II building project by making a donation using your credit card on this website.

The new preschool room is 25’ X 42’ and has its own bathroom and outside entrance. Removing the preschool area from the library is providing more student and community meeting space.

The new art and music classroom contains 768 sq. ft of space for arts instruction and storage. The new stage opens to the gymnasium, allowing for more audience seating for school musical and theatre productions. In addition, the folding stage door allows the stage to be used for student instrument instruction and rehearsal.

Please help us complete our Preschool, Music, Art, and Theatre Programs! Your support for this project is vital and will be greatly appreciated by our growing student population. Feel free to read the additional background information below or visit our website for more information at: www.ridgewayschool.org

School Description: In rural southeastern Minnesota, Ridgeway Community School, a free public charter school, provides a quality, multi-age learning experience to over 100 students in grades K-5. The fee-based Preschool Program serves over 25 students.

The Phase I addition, completed in 2007, added spacious Kindergarten and First Grade classrooms and a school and community library. As a result of this additional space we have seen growth in both student enrollment and community use of our school. Our teachers and staff have been working hard to put together and deliver an outstanding academic program, which has been fully supported by our fantastic families and community members.

Educational Program: Teachers utilize the growing technology including: SMART Boards in every classroom and a mobile laptop computer lab to differentiate instruction so that learning can be successfully cultivated using a more individualized approach. Our strong academic program and small class sizes consistently produce students who meet state standards. In order to meet our school-wide wellness goals students participate in daily physical education classes. Each class has a 45 minute art class once per week and a 30 minute music class three times per week. Instrument lessons are offered to students beginning in the 4th grade. Private instructors also offer piano lessons on the school grounds.

Enrichment Programs: RCS students are also able to participate in many afterschool activities that are run completely by our many wonderful volunteers. These include things like cross country skiing, craft club, chess club, forestry/gardening club, hiking club, computer club, basketball, volleyball, soccer, and many others. Additionally opportunites for experience in music, theatre, dance and art are provided with grant funded guest artists.