River Rock Academy opens, $1.3 million sale of former Cressona Elementary pending

Oct. 16—CRESSONA — River Rock Academy, which provides special and alternative education, moved into the former Cressona Elementary School at the start of the school year, officials said Monday at a special meeting at the Good Will Hose Company.

Richard W. Fry, director of student engagement, said eight students in grades seven to 12 are currently attending the school.

All students, he said, are from school districts in Schuylkill County. The school has the capacity for about 45 students.

Cressona Borough Council held a special meeting to inform residents of activity at the school. About 50 people attended the hour-long session, which preceded the regular biweekly council meeting.

In August, Lancaster-based River Rock Academy announced it would provide academic and behavioral health services under an agreement with Blue Mountain School District.

In June, the Blue Mountain school board approved a rent-to-own agreement with River Rock Academy, which will operate the school until the sale is finalized.

At the same time, the board approved an agreement of sale with Salisbury House LLC, a wholly-owned affiliate of River Rock, for the building at 45 Wilder St.

Attorney Joseph P. Troy, who represented the borough, said a petition filed with the Schuylkill County Court showed a sale price of $1.3 million for the school. The petition was accompanied by two affidavits from certified appraisers.

Under Pennsylvania law, the sale of school buildings requires court approval. A hearing on the matter is scheduled for 10 a.m. Oct. 30 in the Schuylkill County Courthouse.

The only issue to come before the court, Troy said, is whether the district is receiving a fair price for the property.

In response to questions, River Rock administrators said students are transported to and from school by their home districts. Students return home each day, and no students live on-site.

Blue Mountain is providing lunch for the students under a contract with River Rock.

River Rock, Fry said, hires only certified teachers. In addition to the teacher, a behavior coach is in classrooms. A staff member escorts students to rest rooms, he said.

River Rock operates two programs in Cressona.

Pennsylvania Licensing System, or PALS, has students with Individual Education Plans. They can be on-site for up to a year.

Alternative Education for Disruptive Youth, or AEDY, involves students who have been expelled or involved in some type of altercation. They can be at River Rock for 45 days, then are returned to their home school district.

River Rock operates on a 185-day school year with no summer sessions, said Fry, a former superintendent at Big Spring School District in Cumberland County.

The basic idea, Fry said, is to prevent students from dropping out of school.

"Dropouts cost taxpayers seven times more than students who graduate," he said.

Kathy Phillips, who lives across from the former Cressona school, said she was unaware the school opened until she saw the River Rock Academy sign on the building.

David H. Helsel, Blue Mountain superintendent, noted that the matter was discussed and acted upon at school board meetings. And, there had been newspaper ads regarding hearings on the sale.

In June, the future of the school was discussed at a borough council meeting.

A review of the sale by Schuylkill County planners found the use of the property as a school to be consistent with city, borough and village land use.

Blue Mountain closed Cressona Elementary when it opened the new Blue Mountain Elementary West school near Friedensburg for the 2022-23 school year.

During construction of the school, some students attended classes at Cressona Elementary and others at the former St. Ambrose Catholic School in Schuylkill Haven. Students from both schools were transferred to Blue Mountain Elementary West.

Built in 1929, the building had been Cressona High School until the early 1960s, when it was absorbed into the Blue Mountain consolidated system.

River Rock Academy, founded by Steve Capoferri and Patti Shatto-Young in 2005, is licensed by the Pennsylvania Department of Education. It has 11 schools in York, Cumberland, Berks and Schuylkill counties.

Mike Pontician, Cressona fire chief, requested River Rock to develop a plan for evacuating students and staff from the building in case of fire.

The school indicated that it would.

Contact the writer: rdevlin@republicanherald.com; 570-628-6007