CRESCENT, Iowa (KMTV) — A small Iowa community is working to restore a cornerstone of community connection by building a public charter school that combines traditional learning with nature and art.
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Crescent lost its elementary school in 2023 when Council Bluffs Schools closed it, leaving families scattered across different districts or homeschooling. Now, a group of community leaders are developing the Red Barn Schoolhouse, a public charter school that will integrate art and nature into daily lessons.
"There's an engagement that happens in the community when the kids go to school (locally) and they're connected," said Sharon Oamek, who is on the board.
The school will be built on an alfalfa field on the edge of town and students will spend half their day learning outdoors.
"It's always been a rural school in an urban school district and we never fit very well," Oamek said, walking across the field.
Crescent students, who would have been in the same elementary school, are now spread out.
"Some students are home schooled, some go to Underwood and some go to Council Bluffs," said Shawn Shea, who is also on the Red Barn Schoolhouse board.
Education expert Cynthia Gehrie is helping integrate art and nature into the curriculum: "And these are things that kids naturally like. And, it get their juices flowing. They aren't just sitting in a classroom."
"And, it is so cool, to see the learning take place. You can see it and its experiential," Shea said.
On Tuesday, board members told the Pottawattamie County Board of Supervisors that the school plans to meet all state education standards while maintaining small student-teacher ratios.
"And there's all kinds of ways to adapt the standards to things that are outside," Oamek said.
Oamek, who has a background in community development, says having a school affects the local economy.
"It is important to property values, to the interaction of the people in the community," she said.
The Red Barn Schoolhouse plans to start with 45 students from kindergarten through fourth grade, with classes beginning in August.
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