Rhode Island College had plans to close the Henry Barnard School this year, an institution that has educated elementary students pre-k to grade five for the past 122 years.

That’s not going to happen thanks to the efforts of Henry Barnard School parents although the colleges will no longer finance school operations.

“Henry Barnard for us, has been a place where the teachers are really paying attention to the students’ needs, and they understand that no two students learn skills at the same pace. The staff really makes sure each students gets what they need,” said Rebecca Bromberg, a parent of a second grader at HBS, who, along with her husband Scott, is leading the parent organization to save the school.

The Brombergs of the family that once owned and operated Benny’s live in Providence.

To Bromberg, the model of education is something she “values tremendously” and the long history of the school is important to their family. “There are lots of choices for education, and we appreciate public schools, and charter schools, and private, or Catholic, but for our family, Henry Barnard has been a really great fit,” she said.

Bromberg emphasized that the HBS staff “truly makes the school what it is. In everything they do, it’s a collaborative approach.”

The collaborative learning style extends across all subjects, Bromberg explained, where, for example, students may read a book together in the library, learn a song about it in Spanish class, and then practice that song on homemade instruments in music class.

An agreement with RIC

Throughout the fall, Bromberg and other parents were able to meet with RIC administration to negotiate an agreement that allows HBS to continue under an independent model.

The agreement allows HBS to file with the Rhode Island Department of Education as an independent institution, and enter into an annual one-year lease for up to five years. This means that the school building will remain on the RIC campus, but no longer affiliate with the college.

“Parents are really in the trenches working for this is a lot of different ways,” said Bromberg who mentioned families who act as welcome ambassadors, younger alumni who are organizing virtual events like open houses, and other parents helping to secure grants.

As of now, HBS parents have won the battle to keep the school open, but it faces an uncertain future. HBS parents are working on tracking down alumni, as the school or RIC did not previously keep an attendance or donor list.

“Private schools usually have a list of donors, and we’re trying to cobble together students and teachers through old yearbooks,” said Bromberg, who wants to connect with alumni in an effort to recruit new students and fundraise to “establish a strong financial footing.”

Parents have set a goal of fundraising $250,000 to help “launch the independent Henry Barnard School into the future,” said Bromberg.

The new HBS will be a tuition-based school, and tuition rates will range from $13,000 to $17,000.

Bromberg says the “tuition numbers are directly tied and scaled to the number of students enrolled. We have modeled various scenarios ranging from 140 students to 250 students. We hope to retain many of the current staff and maintain our special programs.” Financial pressure on RIC

Financial considerations drove Rhode Island College to announce it would be closing the school.

A press release issued by RIC in August 2020, reads the “college must reduce operating expenses by 15 percent in the face of a projected $10.4 million deficit for [fiscal year] 2021.

Other “extraordinary measures” include executive pay cuts, continued hiring freezes, staff reductions, and the delay of cost-of-living adjustments.

“The pandemic and its unprecedented impacts have triggered one of the biggest fiscal challenges in Rhode Island College’s 166-year history,” said President Frank Sanchez in the press release. “As president, my job is to make the difficult decisions that will enable the college to continue accomplishing our core mission, which is to provide a high-quality, affordable college education and the opportunity for a better life to generations of students in Rhode Island and beyond.”

From fiscal year 2018 to 2020, the college faced deficits totaling $13.7 million, which were addressed each year through reductions in operating costs, lowering financial aid, restricting travel, freezing overtime, limiting hiring, and raising tuition.

Henry Barnard School (HBS), an elementary school operated by the college on the campus has presented both fiscal and programmatic challenges for RIC, according to the press release. HBS operating losses for the past three fiscal years totals roughly $4.6 million, which has been covered by the college directly by drawing funds from other programs that support college students.

Even though the Henry Barnard School is located on the RIC campus in Providence, it draws students in from across the state, including Warwick, Cranston, Johnston, Lincoln, and Smithfield.

Henry Barnard, a pioneer in establishing the country’s public school system, founded the Henry Barnard School in 1898 as a laboratory school, to allow for the training of future teachers, education experimentation, educational research, and professional development.

Henry Barnard was an advocate for a holistic and nurturing approach to educating children regardless of economic background. Barnard led Connecticut’s first public school system from 1838 to 1842, and was then appointed as Rhode Island’s first education commissioner. When Barnard accepted his position in Rhode Island, he campaigned for a state-supported school system. A significant part of his plan was his notion that schools would have a program that allows for teachers in training to apply what they’ve learned in the classroom, the method currently in place at HBS at RIC.

Barnard made other improvements to public education; including uniform textbooks across the state, and increased school taxes to fund new buildings and hiring more qualified teachers. Barnard also established a professional journal for teachers and helped created a body of professional literature designed to improve teacher quality.

However, according to the press release, the educational model of HBS is “no longer considered best practice in teacher education,” and enrollment at HBS has fallen more than 40 percent since 2017.

Currently, the school has an enrollment of 105 students, although there were upwards of 250 in “pre-COVID, pre-closing” times, says Bromberg. Her immediate focus is on “cultivating the students and the families to continue to build a larger number of students for the future.”

“We keep telling our kids, if there is something you feel strongly about, you have to stand up and say something if you want things to change,” Bromberg said, getting emotional. “It’s this shared experience that sets kids up for success, it’s being part of a larger community.”

On Saturday, Feb. 13, the Henry Barnard School is hosting a virtual open house at 10 a.m., giving visitors the chance to hear from HBS teachers, students, and families and, virtually, tour the school. To register, visit www.henrybarnard.org.