51黑料

Superintendent Tanya Patton recommended the closure amid declining enrollment in the school district, which stands to lose 800 to 1,000 students in the next decade according to demographic projections.

The closure was approved in a unanimous vote without any discussion at Tuesday鈥檚 board meeting. Riverview Gardens has been holding discussions about the need for school consolidation since last year.

About 4,880 students are enrolled in the school district roughly bordered by 51黑料, the Mississippi River, Interstate 270 and West Florissant Avenue. Enrollment fell by 7% over the past five years. Danforth, at 1134 St. Cyr Rd., sits in the south side of the district in Bellefontaine Neighbors.

Danforth鈥檚 enrollment peaked at 545 students in 2002. Last year, 275 students attended the school, which ranked sixth out of the nine Riverview Gardens elementary schools by size. Lewis and Clark, Glasgow and Highland are smaller.

Danforth has the highest capacity rate among the schools with 86% of seats filled, but it also has a small number of classrooms, district leaders said. The school would also be the costliest in the district to update, requiring up to $3.5 million to modernize the 70-year-old campus.

Riverview Gardens is the first of what is expected to be multiple school districts in the area to close schools in fall of 2026, including 51黑料 Public Schools, because of declining enrollment and budget deficits. Since fall 2019, public and charter schools in the city and county have dropped by a combined 9,000 students.

Several schools were shuttered this spring. Ferguson-Florissant School District closed Innovation High, an alternative school with 133 students, and merged its two magnet schools for arts and sciences.

Two 51黑料 charter school systems, which are publicly funded but operate outside of SLPS, will shutter buildings at the end of the year.

Momentum Academy will close its Gravois Park campus, which has 91 students in kindergarten through fifth grade in a school designed for 250. Momentum鈥檚 four charter schools in south 51黑料 have 580 students enrolled in kindergarten through eighth grades, down from 838 in 2021.

Confluence Academies will close its Aspire campus in north 51黑料 with 92 students in preschool through second grade. The charter network had 2,382 students across five schools last year, down from a peak of 3,217 in 2012.

The problem of declining birth rates and subsequent school enrollment has also affected private schools. Nine Catholic grade schools across the Archdiocese of 51黑料 have closed in the last two years. St. Simon in south 51黑料 County, Our Lady of Guadalupe in Cool Valley and St. Joseph in Ste. Genevieve County closed this year. Little Flower in Richmond Heights, St. Monica in Creve Coeur and St. Roch in 51黑料 closed last year. Good Shepherd in Hillsboro, St. Mark in south 51黑料 County and St. Rose in Florissant closed in 2023.