Parents, teachers work to save private Montessori school in south Eugene

Organizers of a new school at 2490 Hilyard St. removed the wooden Far Horizons Montessori School sign from the building on Friday.

A new sign and a different Montessori school are taking its place. 

Teachers and parents at the private school in south Eugene are forming a new Montessori school after the former director announced the school’s closing and vacated the building. The former director’s departure came after teachers reported she owed them past-due paychecks.

The collectively owned South Hills Montessori School will be housed in the same building as Far Horizons, according to a press release sent to Lookout Eugene-Springfield from Aya Cockram, a parent of a student at the school. The school’s first day will be Sept. 8. South Hills Montessori is accepting new students for enrollment.  

According to Oregon Secretary of State records, South Hills Montessori Inc. was incorporated Tuesday, Aug. 26. The incorporators are Devlin Gray, a parent of a student who attends the school; Hang Xu, also a parent; and Kelli Sanchez, the school’s lead elementary teacher. A long-term goal is to transition the school to a nonprofit model, Xu said. 

They created the new business after the former director of Far Horizons, Lynn Peacock, was informed on Aug. 24 that she could no longer operate at the location because she had defaulted on her lease, the press release said.

Parents and teachers gained access to the building on Monday and realized most of the chairs, tables and other furniture were gone, said Tamara Andreas, volunteer president of the Far Horizons Parent Council.

“We started from ground zero on Monday, and we’ve been pushing as hard as we can since then to fix that,” Andreas said.

Peacock announced in an Aug. 26 email to the school community that Far Horizons was closing, according to the South Hills press release. 

“This came on the heels of other serious financial issues, such as a failure to pay teachers and at least 30 outstanding refund requests from families,” the release said. 

Peacock did not respond to a phone call Friday seeking comment from Lookout.

The community quickly came together to see what could be done to save the school. The parent council informed families and teachers they had access to the school, Andreas said, and they went to work calling parents of children who had been enrolled the previous school year, about 70 students.

Several families donated seed money to help get South Hills Montessori off the ground, according to the release. Ridgeline Montessori, Eugene Montessori and McKenzie Montessori schools have donated materials and furniture. 

“It’s been a joint effort,” Andreas said. “All parents have put in what they can and what they’re able to. There’s a lot of willingness to help and show up. I think we’re just doing whatever it takes right now.”  

Xu said the school is offering sign-on bonuses for teachers who resigned under Peacock’s leadership and want to return to the school. He said some teachers are pursuing their lost wages through small claims court. Xu also said the school is honoring tuition that had been prepaid for the school year to Peacock.

Parents of Far Horizons students learned earlier this month that teachers were resigning because they hadn’t received paychecks from Peacock due July 5 — and that they hadn’t been receiving paychecks in a timely manner for the entire school year.

Andreas and the parent council tried to facilitate getting the teachers paid after learning about the resignations. At an all-school meeting on Aug. 13, the group asked Peacock to provide bank statements pertaining to the school’s finances, which the director refused to do, Andreas said.

Peacock sent an email to the school community Sunday, Aug. 17, saying she intended to resign and sell the school. She had been the director of Far Horizons Montessori School since 2018.

This story has been updated with donor and enrollment information. The first name of an incorporator was also corrected.