Once-shuttered school in Marine on St. Croix days away from reopening

Three years ago Kevin Nyenhuis stood up and applauded when his village, Marine on St. Croix, bought the town's school.

The building had been vacated by Stillwater Area Public Schools in a sweeping reorganization, and Nyenhuis and others hoped they could pick up where the district had left off.

It's still something of a work in progress, but in less than two weeks the Marine Village School will welcome 30 students in kindergarten through fourth grades.

"We've anticipated this day for many years," said Nyenhuis, who became Marine on St. Croix mayor last year.

It's cause for celebration in tiny Marine on St. Croix — population 670 — one of the state's earliest settlements. The village has had a school in one location or another since 1847, according to Win Miller, a founding board member of the charter school. The new elementary school will focus on academics, ecology, community and service, according to its website.

The hope is that more students will come as news of the school's reopening spreads, said Miller. A fifth-grade class could be added next year.

Busing remains a problem, and some families that had originally enrolled in the school later bowed out when they learned that no bus was available. Miller said the school may buy or lease 10-passenger vans to help with transportation.

In addition to state aid, the school received a three-year charter school program grant of federal dollars administered by the Minnesota Department of Education. It will provide $175,000 in funding for this first year of operation.

Miller said the building itself is still in good shape, with a few minor repairs needed. Even after the school opens, it will share the building with the Marine Mills Folk School, which teaches traditional arts and crafts in evening and weekend classes. Miller said the school hopes to partner with the folk school in some way going forward.

Some new residents in town don't know what they've been missing with the elementary school closed, said Nyenhuis. Locals who were around when the school was shut down are still upset by it, he said. "It was very bad stewardship," he said of the district's decision.

"The baseline is our community has a history, a long history, of benefiting from and loving a school within our city boundary," said Nyenhuis.

A few weeks ago, the school's new director, Principal Kim Kokx, held a theater camp in the Marine Village School building. The students finished the week with an hourlong performance of "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory," drawing an audience of locals.