River Grove Elementary School in Wilder Forest in May Township in northern Washington County has found a new home — thanks to a White Bear Lake-based foundation.
School officials announced Thursday that they would be moving temporarily into the Zephyr Theatre property in downtown Stillwater. On Wednesday, officials from the Manitou Fund said the foundation had entered into a purchase agreement for the property at 601 N. Main St.
“We’re extremely excited about this opportunity and are incredibly thankful to Manitou Fund for providing us a unique space in such an amazing location,” said Drew Goodson, the charter school’s executive director. “We look forward to continuing the implementation of our innovative, place-based curriculum along the St. Croix River.”
The move, part of an ongoing collaborative partnership with the Manitou Fund, will provide an interim home for the school as it “continues to develop long-term plans to create a forest-based campus and learning center,” Goodson said.
The theater, which offers school-based arts education programming, will continued to operate in the space.
“This is a great opportunity for the building to be full of life and for us to continue to grow our partnership with another community organization in a shared space,” Zephyr officials wrote in an email to supporters.
The future of River Grove has been unclear since last fall when officials with the Amherst H. Wilder Foundation announced they had approved an agreement with the Minnesota Catholic Youth Partnership to purchase the 600 acres of Wilder Forest land for an overnight summer camp and winter retreat center.
Wilder’s purchase agreement with the Catholic Youth Partnership was approved just days after Manitou Fund officials submitted an $11 million purchase agreement to Wilder officials in a bid to allow River Grove, known officially as Marine Area Community School, to stay on the land.
Manitou Fund officials are “pleased to be able to offer River Grove an opportunity to continue to deliver thoughtful environmental based education programming,” said Oliver Din, the foundation’s president and chief executive officer. “This synergetic space will enable an environment of creative and collaborative community connections.”
The lease for River Grove, which has been located at Wilder Forest since it opened in 2017, expires at the end of June. The K-6 charter school has 225 students and is housed in several cottages that used to be leased by Concordia Language Villages.
