Bayfield School District’s Wolverine Academy has a new home for the 2024-25 school year and beyond.
The school has relocated to the former Pueblo Community College Southwest building. The Wolverine Academy, which was previously situated in one of the district’s original buildings, moved from the east end of South Street in downtown Bayfield the west end of the street where PCC Southwest was located, according to a news release from the Bayfield School District’s website.
PCC Southwest closed permanently on June 30 as a result of enrollment struggles following the COVID-19 pandemic.
The front doors of the building, 110 E. South St., were painted purple to help provide a more personal touch for the school, greeting students and visitors when they step foot on campus, the release said.
District superintendent Leon Hanhardt told residents during a facility planning workshop earlier this month that the new location will provide more “autonomous space” for students, according to the release.
“They’ve really made that space their own,” assistant superintendent Bill Hesford said during the same workshop.
The Wolverine Academy specializes in project-based learning curriculum, from various outdoor recreation activities and planting apple trees to painting murals and a Humanities Shifting Borders and Identities project by interviewing refugees from overseas. Electives include fly fishing and mountain biking.
Wolverine Academy began with about 15 students when Dean of Students Halie Forsthoff began her role at the school about five years ago, and now it is up to 31 students for 2024-25, the release said.
“We really try to tie the projects to their individual interests and their learning styles,” Forsthoff said in the release.
mhollinshead@durangoherald.com
