Rivergate Adventist Elementary is celebrating all the ways God has helped keep their school thriving this year. One challenge this school in Gladstone, Oregon, has been able to overcome is finding staffing to operate at full capacity. In a time where teachers are in short supply, the school was able to find an instructor for their sixth/seventh-grade class just four days before the school year started. RAE thought they had a teacher lined up in advance, but plans fell through and it seemed they would be left without a necessary staff member. Thankfully, another teacher at the school was able to recommend a qualified friend to fill the position!
The school is also praising God for connecting them with a capable hot lunch cook. With their current cook retiring just a few months into the school year, RAE was not sure whether they'd be able to continue to offer hot lunch. Just as they were beginning to despair, a qualified parent expressed interest in the position. Now they can continue to offer nourishing meals to students.
Another area in which God has taken care of the school is enrollment. Prior to the pandemic, RAE’s enrollment was steadily declining and was as low as 76 students just a few years ago. The school was able to continue in-person instruction under their childcare license during the time when public schools were only offering online instruction. This brought a number of community families to RAE who have grown to love the school and stayed even after public schools fully reopened. Now enrollment is up to 125 this 2022–2023 school year and the school is utilizing all of their classrooms!
Recently, when RAE knew they were going to lose a student, they started praying that God would bring another student to keep their enrollment stable and enable them to meet their budget projections. The student pulled out on a Wednesday and by the next week, they already had a new student attending!
Reflecting on all the families that have joined their school community, Megan Hall, RAE principal, shared, “It’s been really neat to see these families choosing to invest in our school and seeing the value in what RAE has to offer their kids academically, spiritually, socially and physically.”
Students work on a project at Rivergate Adventist Elementary School.
Students study together at Rivergate Adventist Elementary School.
Students study at Rivergate Adventist Elementary School.
