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Natural Resources Center

When one person succeeds, everyone succeeds. Butte Falls Charter School is a learning community.

"The mission of Butte Falls Charter School (BFCS) is to create successful, productive, and literate citizens who will be ready for college and/or the workforce by learning collaboration, creativity, communication and critical thinking through Natural Resources."

The idea originated from concern for the rural school district populations. The charter school encompasses the town's elementary, middle, and high schools, as well as the natural resource center. The charter school has ~230 enrolled students as of 2019.

The Natural Resource Center was conceived in 2011 when the State of Oregon decommissioned a 100-year-old state fish hatchery. It was the first fish hatchery in Oregon. Butte Falls formed a charter school and adopted natural resources as their theme that same year. The 13 acres site includes residential structures and buildings that once housed the fish hatchery. 10 acres were acquired from the state and the remaining 3 acres came from writing applications and providing assurances to the U.S. Department of Education and the Department of the Interior.

In 2012 BFCS signed a charter contract with the school district and opened it's doors with an educational program of natural resource education, place-based learning, and individual learning plans for students to enable a higher rate of student success. They also partnered with Rogue Community College and Southern Oregon University to allow early college credit to be taken by high school students to encourage students to pursue higher education.

The current site features a forest, riparian zone around Ginger Creek, certified wetland, home economics classroom, organic garden, outdoor event center, apothecary, pollinator garden, certified kitchen space, business incubator, bicycle shop, greenhouse, food forest, and more.

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