|
|
|
By FRAN EMMONS - ROCKWOOD - A cloud was hanging over the Rockwood Elementary School when it closed last spring. Enrollment was down, with only 11 students expected to return in the fall. Confidence in the school's staff had eroded. And the Maine State Department of Education was considering closing the school altogether. Enter Bill Folsom, a 30-year veteran elementary teacher, native to the Moosehead Lake region and a Rockwood local. Most recently Union 60 Superintendent of Schools, Folsom took over the teaching principal position when classes started in September. "I'm really enjoying being back," Folsom said in an interview last week. Back for the Rockwood teacher means back at the school where he taught during the first half of the 1990s and back in the classroom, working directly with the kids. Of course, as principal, he has to worry about the future of the school. "The biggest challenge is the population shift," Folsom acknowledged, adding that the decline in student population began "in 1990, pretty much since the new school opened." Rockwood is one of eight unorganized territories in the state that has its own school. All eight are under the jurisdiction of Education in Unorganized Territories (EUT), with Richard Moreau as superintendent. By law, if a school's enrollment dips to 10 or less, EUT must consider alternative education for that territory's students. "Making the numbers in a small town is an iffy thing," Folsom explained. "One family can make or break the curve." Right now, there are 12 students enrolled in the school, but earlier in the fall there were 16, he noted. "One family moved out, cutting the student population by 25 percent," Folsom said. Next year the school, which only covers kindergarten through grade four, will lose its two fourth- graders to Union 60 in Greenville, which picks up where Rockwood Elementary leaves off. Fortunately, two kindergarten students are expected to come in, Folsom explained, keeping the numbers level. Options EUT and Rockwood might consider to increase overall enrollment include re-instituting the fifth grade and adding a pre-school class, Folsom said. The school will meet stiff competition from Greenville Middle School, however, should it add grade five, he continued. The larger system offers more in the way of sports and cultural programs. Today, Rockwood Elementary thrives with the help of volunteers, including Debra Pollard and Gloria Burns, Folsom said. Volunteers have always played a large part in the school's curriculum, including those who have brought the music program to students and others who organized and manned weekly ski trips to Big Squaw Mountain Resort. "I sure could use someone in both those capacities now," Folsom said. Committed to outdoor recreation for his students, the teacher-administrator has fashioned an ice rink right next to the school. He began flooding the area with water early last week and, by the weekend, the rink's surface was ready. Local parent Stephanie Ashley took her six-year old twins to skate there last Sunday. "It was the first time they had ever skated and they had a wonderful time," Ashley said. A long-time supporter of the school, Ashley said her two boys are "happy, healthy and learning a lot. Bill Folsom is a great asset, especially with the computer stuff," she added. Folsom has changed other people's minds about the school as well. A year ago, Rockwood Fire Chief Joe Munster spoke at the public forums to discuss the school's future, and he wasn't happy with either the administration or the instruction. Today, the father of four can't say enough good about Bill Folsom. "Bill is just what this school needed. He can motivate kids to learn without them even knowing that they are being motivated," Munster said in a recent telephone interview. Two years ago Munster pulled his daughter, Samantha, out of the school and home-schooled her. She is now in the fifth grade in Greenville and no longer eligible to go to Rockwood Elementary, but Munster will put his two pre-school kids, ages four and two, into the Rockwood kindergarten when the time comes "provided Folsom is there," he said. The school's future isn't in the clear yet, however. Folsom and Moreau are due to meet in the spring and another public forum is expected to be held at that time as well. |