The 137-year-old University of Wyoming (UW) Lab School closed its doors for good this May. That’s because UW declined to renew an agreement with the Albany County School District #1 to house the school on its campus; the Albany County School Board opted not to find a new home for it; and lawmakers didn’t pass a bill to rescue it.
The UW Lab School specialized in a curriculum of hands-on learning and outdoor education. For many years, it also served as a teacher incubator for UW’s education program.
Virginia Chai is a former administrative assistant and a parent of four children who attended the school. She’s not sure the Lab School is replaceable for its students, especially because of its small size, it only took 300 students at a time.
“Larger schools, it's just hard to be seen. It's hard to have connections. And some of our kids are, they're anxious kids. They need somebody to just say, ‘Hey, you're good. We see you. We appreciate that you're here, even if you're late!’” she said with a chuckle.
Chai said, on the last day of school, lots of kids came to the office.
“Lots of tears. Lots of hugs,” she said, her voice cracking with emotion. “So much uncertainty and I tried to encourage them. ‘It's going to be good. It's going to be okay. These new schools are going to be great. They're going to welcome you.’ I don't really know that. I mean, I hope that.”
Chai said the school district has created an extension team that includes former Lab School teachers with hopes of sharing the school’s unique hands-on learning methods around the district.
