YOUR AD HERE »

North Routt Preschool closed indefinitely

School’s board to ask commissioners for funding

— The North Routt Preschool closed abruptly Monday, and a special meeting of the Routt County Board of County Commissioners to consider a request for funding for the small school in Clark is set for 4 p.m. Friday.

It was unclear Thursday why the preschool closed.

Hillary Ackerman, who said Thursday that she resigned as director of the preschool last week, added she could not discuss why the school had closed because she had signed a confidentiality agreement with the school’s board of directors.



She also said she could not discuss why she resigned or how many students were enrolled at the school before it closed Monday.

Routt County Department of Human Services Director Vickie Clark said First Impressions of Routt County, which works to support preschool students in the Yampa Valley, received a letter from the school’s board of directors Sunday saying it would close indefinitely the next day. She said the letter did not provide a reason for the closure.



Clark attended a meeting at the school Monday when she said a group of parents and community members started to brainstorm ways they could reopen the school.

“We had some concerns for the families and for the parents who now have no child care assistance,” she said. “The basic message was that people were frantic about it being closed.”

Clark said there were approximately 10 families with students at the preschool who had been receiving scholarship assistance from First Impressions who can now transfer those scholarships for use at another school.


Support Local Journalism

Support Local Journalism

Readers around Steamboat and Routt County make the Steamboat Pilot & Today’s work possible. Your financial contribution supports our efforts to deliver quality, locally relevant journalism.

Now more than ever, your support is critical to help us keep our community informed about the evolving coronavirus pandemic and the impact it is having locally. Every contribution, however large or small, will make a difference.

Each donation will be used exclusively for the development and creation of increased news coverage.