Communities say farewell to Marlboro, Jamaica schools | Local News

Marlboro School and Jamaica Village School will no longer be used for public education following community votes to close them. 

Their last school days were this week. The current school buildings opened in 1954 in Marlboro and 1955 in Jamaica. 

“Both closures are sad for the communities,” Windham Central Superintendent Bob Thibault said, “but the students will be well-cared for in each case in neighboring town schools.”

Thibault said the closure of JVS involved a slow process over several years. Enrollment began declining after the West River Education District “created the opportunity for intra-district choice,” he said of the arrangement that allows students to go to other WRED schools. Eventually, the school had fewer than 15 students and all three staff members left.

“We couldn’t staff it for the following year, and it became a pre-k only site two years ago,” Thibault said. “This year, the board asked the town to vote to close it, and the town agreed.”

In a 102-36 vote in April, Jamaica voted to give the School Board authority to close the school. Residents also voted 118-20 in favor of having the town purchase the school from the district for $1.

Thibault said Marlboro had “an entirely different process,” which involved taking a look at projected enrollment and current birth rates. The Marlboro School Board was “faced with a challenge of a rapidly declining enrollment as the older students ‘aged’ into high school and very few younger students entering pre-k or kindergarten,” he said. 

“That lead to several large community information meetings and discussions, which eventually led to the School Board putting the question formally to the voters on Town Meeting Day,” he said of the 311-65 vote in March. 

Dan MacArthur, chairman of the Marlboro School Board, said Tuesday was the last day of classes at Marlboro School. Eighth graders were not present. They had their graduation ceremony on Monday night. 

David Eichelberger, a parent, said the ceremony celebrated their achievements “even with the undertones of loss in the community.” 

“It’s kind of emotional for a lot of us,” said Nathaniel Hobbie, a parent. “Its the end of an era.”

Hobbie said his child, an eighth grade graduate, is excited to be moving on to “a bigger world” and loved his teachers at Marlboro School. 

Eichelberger called the closure “heartbreaking” and “sad.”

“It feels like a real shift in the community,” he said. 

Three of his daughters went to the school. The youngest is heading to Academy School in West Brattleboro next school year. 

“We work in Brattleboro so it works out,” Eichelberger said. 

Sara Sherritt, school nurse at Marlboro School, described being “very, very sad” about the closure. She worked at the school for eight years. 

“It’s such a wonderful community to be part of,” she said. 

The board’s plan is to keep the school building for at least a year. MacArthur said he believes its future use should be for “the benefit of the community.”

Marlboro is not the first to go through this, said Rep. Emily Long, D, Windham-5, a member of the West River Education District Board and vice chairwoman of the Windham Central Supervisory Union Board. She suggested other districts could be resources in future planning. 

Kathie Gatto-Gurney, the pre-k teacher at JVS for the past two years, took her students swimming in a kiddie pool behind the school and to play with ducks on the last day of school on Wednesday. She said she’s sad to see the school close but looks forward to teaching kindergarten in Townshend next school year. 

“It’s a little sad — it’s such a cool spot next to the State Park,” said Brian Nelson, a parent in Jamaica. “It’s unfortunate but that’s the reality of Vermont life now.” 

The Nelsons moved from Connecticut for smaller classes. Now, they’re considering moving to be closer to schools.

Ellen Ostrander, an early childhood special educator for Windham Central Supervisory Union, praised JVS for its “social emotional learning and special environment.”

Gatto-Gurney estimated having an average of 10 students in her class over the past two years. 

“It’s been a wonderful experience,” she said. “I love the families, I love the kids. We had the use of the gym whenever we want. For young kids, it’s really important, so they can get out their energy.”

At the time of the interview, Gatto-Gurney was preparing to move items from her classroom to Townshend. She said the closure is “really sad” for the Jamaica community “because there’s no other preschool in the area.”

“We’re hoping that maybe part of this school could turn into a daycare,” she said, “because how will we get young people to move here, right?”

Gatto-Gurney said she thinks “more forethought” will be needed in education planning if Vermont wants to bring young people to the state.