Dear Voters of Bridport, Cornwall, Middlebury, Salisbury, Shoreham and Weybridge.
My name is Maggie Hoyler and I am a fifth-grader at Ripton Elementary School. It is my last year at Ripton because the district is moving sixth grade to MUMS and I want to leave a school that is not going to be closed and make more room for new students. I don’t want to leave a school that is about to close.
I have heard about the closing of my school and I don’t like it. I love Ripton Elementary School. I love the playground, the soccer field, and most of all the teachers, the teachers are the best. They are nice, awesome, and very good at teaching.
My principal is awesome too. I love how she gives us rewards when we do kind things, like wacky Wednesday, pajama day, or a movie during lunch. I love the rewards and they are so much fun.
Now about closing my school. I am taking this seriously. I can’t believe anyone wants to close my school. It is the best school ever. My school is the best and the teachers work super hard to keep us happy and safe.
I went to one of the town meetings about closing my school (it was virtual). I was there for most of it. I was curious and then I wanted to change it because my school is the best ever and I don’t want it to change.
Life is hard and sometimes stinks and it’s not fun when it is. Seeing all the people at my school, which is like 50 kids, is enough for me. I definitely do not want a school with 300 kids — that is way too much. I like that there is only one class for each grade. It would be awful to only know the kids in your class and not your whole grade.
I think that having a school in Ripton is really important because if we didn’t some kids wouldn’t get to bike or walk to school and we wouldn’t get to go to Rikert or the Snow Bowl. Most of all the younger kids (PreK-2nd grade) would have to have a really long bus ride and I know that my sister (eight years old) does not like long rides and gets car sick. I am sure most younger kids don’t like long rides and as it is some kids already have a 45-minute bus ride and maybe even longer on the way to school in Ripton.
If this doesn’t persuade you enough that is OK but I really don’t want my school to close, please vote Yes to have Ripton Elementary School go out of the district and be its own and stay open. Thank you for spending your time reading this. It means a lot.
Maggie Hoyler
Ripton