Gavin Nguyen
PALM DESERT, Calif. (KESQ) – Students and families continue searching for alternatives after Palm Valley School announced its closure in June.
A solution to that problem could be emerging soon. A new private school has opened enrollment for the upcoming school year.
Valley Independent Preparatory Academy, also known as VIPA, recently launched a new website and social media pages. While most of these pages are still under construction and are mostly blank, the website includes a link to an enrollment form.
We checked back in with Zander Eaton, who we spoke with when gathering reaction from students after Palm Valley announced its decision not to reopen its doors. Eaton, who has a younger sister, said his parents were considering the school for her. He said his parents had toured the site.
A partnership between the academy and a local church is raising questions, too.
In a newsletter to its congregation, obtained by News Channel 3, St. Margaret’s Episcopal Church outlined a new plan that would include a three-year lease of some of its facilities to the preparatory school.
Those leases and other details still need to be approved by the diocese, but according to church leadership, good progress is being made in that partnership.
We went to the church in search of answers and sat down with Andrew Butler, the Rector with St. Margaret’s. He called the potential partnership mutually beneficial for all parties involved.
“They need a place to to establish their school,” he said. “We’re always looking for ways to serve our community outside of the church in ways that benefit everyone.”
He was empathetic towards the students and family impacted by the sudden closure of Palm Valley. He commented, “School is like a community, a family. And just to receive notice that your community, your family no longer exists is quite traumatic.”
We reached out to the leadership team for VIPA and spoke on the phone with its media contact, who shared important new details about the plan. August 31st is the current target for the first day of school. The academy will serve students from preschool through 6th grade, and it plans to expand alongside its current 6th graders, with the intent to eventually offer high school education.
Despite sharing a space with a religious institution, the school clarified that it would not hold any religious affiliations. It will be open to students and families of all religious backgrounds and it will not require faith-related requirements. Palm Valley School was previously the only secular private institution in the Coachella Valley, so this decision at the academy will allow it to fill that gap, too.
Also, even though the majority of its current class will consist of former Palm Valley students, enrollment is open to all. School leadership shared that five to ten families had already applied who had no prior affiliation with Palm Valley.
For students coming from PVS, though, they should look forward to seeing familiar faces teaching classes. Valley Independent plans to bring back many of the teachers who previously taught there.
Overall, all parties involved in bringing this option for private schooling in the desert are excited for what’s next. School leaders said they wanted to build on transparency with the new institution and offer students another chance to take advantage of the close bond they shared with each other, faculty, and the community they called home.
And for Butler, he said offering the church’s space for the sake of education was the perfect fit. “The Episcopal Church has quite a history of education, having supported educational institutions –we have had a school here on our campus in the past,” he highlighted.
“One of our values is radical hospitality, he continued. “We are excited to be able to put that into action.”
We’ll continue closely following developments with the new institution. Be sure to stay with us for the latest.
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