<I>The?Eagle/David Heldreth</I><BR>Dayville Superintendent and Principal Debra Gillespie stands in a newly installed doorway that allows her better views and communication with the rest of the school office.

DAYVILLE – Dayville School continues to find ways to improve despite a shrinking student body.

Dayville has 53 students enrolled this year, down nine students or 15 percent from last year.

However, the biggest issue with the declining enrollment is not the numbers but the ages of the kids. This year the school has only one kindergartner and no first- or second-grade students.

Teacher Cindy Inscore teaches kindergarten to fourth grade with the help of educational assistant Nona Gibson. Gibson’s presence helps bridge the large age gap in the students.

Nearly half of Dayville’s students – 24 – are in high school and 15 are in middle school.

Dayville Superintendent and Principal Debra Gillespie said the lack of younger students could prove difficult in the future.

“It’s hard to maintain programs without entire classes,” Gillespie said. “It’s hard to project who will move into the community or leave, but with the projected gap, in 10 or 11 years we could have no graduates.”

Despite looming enrollment issues, Gillespie and the rest of the Dayville staff are working on improving services and creating new opportunities for the students.

The school is wrapping up a current construction project that was funded through grant money to increase safety at the school. The project increased visibility in the school offices, provided a new room for sick students and will create a teacher’s lounge and conference area.

“The project makes it easier for us to see what’s going on and for me to communicate with the secretaries,” Gillespie said. “It also gives us a private place (the teacher’s lounge and conference area) to speak with parents. We kind of just had to talk to people in the open before. The privacy will be nice.”

Gillespie said Dayville is also looking to expand technology education and equipment available to students. The school plans to add a new technology called SMART boards, comparable to a dry erase board that is connected to a computer, and more laptops to classrooms in the near future. The additions are provided in part by a partnership with the University of Oregon program called project DRAW (digital reading and writing).

“Helping kids get involved with technology early is highly important,” Gillespie said. “It’s extremely important. The world has developed a whole new system of communication.”