Mountain Middle School, a charter institution in only its fourth year of existence, on Friday announced financial news to match its stellar academic performance.
The financial partners who own the 12,000-square-foot building the school occupies on west 31st Street have donated half the cost – $400,000 – to the school, board president Erin Patla told parents at a back-to-school picnic in Rotary Park.
The gift, by far the largest the school has received, leaves it only $130,000 from owning the building outright, Patla said. And that would make possible a needed building expansion.
“We need to raise $130,000, and we’ll do it through individual donations, corporate gifts and grants,” Patla said.
“We know that not everyone is in a position to donate,” she said, “but we also know that if every Mountain Middle School family contributes, at any level, being able to demonstrate 100 percent participation will allow us to attract corporate donations and grants that will bring us to our goal.”
The gift from the owners couldn’t be more timely, she said.
“Our growth is limited by our physical space,” Patla said. “We are bursting at the seams.”
School officials and board members dream of room for art, digital media, a cafeteria and space for projects, Patla said. They’re besieged by calls from parents wondering when there will be an elementary school.
Over the summer, Mountain Middle officials met with the building owners, who had children educated there, to get the OK to consult architects and engineers about growth on site.
The answer was the donation of half the cost of the building.
Mountain Middle officials declined to reveal the owners’ names Friday. A La Plata County geographical information systems website shows the owner as the Animas Valley Investment Group.
Now the work begins, Patla said.
Committees will be formed in coming weeks to look at issues of finances, building expansion and the school’s educational future, Patla said.
One long-anticipated goal is to grow to include kindergarten through fifth grade, she said. The school has been cleared for such a move by the state Charter Schools Institute, she said.
The news that Mountain Middle achieved the highest academic growth in all Southwest Colorado last year is old but not stale, she said.
Mountain Middle is now considered a “Performance with Distinction” school, the highest rating by the state, Patla said. It means students were not only exceptional academically but showed outstanding growth year-over-year per student, she said.
“We are transforming students’ lives academically and socially,” Patla said.
The pressing issue now, Patla said, is how to pay off the existing debt in order to own the building free and clear.
Mountain Middle is on a rent-to-own contract, Patla said.
Rent paid to date, the rent budgeted for this year and the $400,000 gift put Mountain Middle only $130,000 away from independence.
Committee work is expected to lead school officials and board members to solutions, Patla said.
“We’ll be asking for your help,” Patla said. “So I urge you to strap in and hold on.”
daler@durangoherald.com
