The gymnasium bleachers were packed with people who were excited to start the day–except for one section. The senior bleachers of Fair Haven Union Middle and High School were notably empty for the first Principal’s List assembly this past Friday.

Fair Haven, a school participating in the Early College Program, allows students to earn college credit while completing their senior year of high school. This opportunity’s impact is felt by the entire student body.

“My upper-level electives are clearly shrinking every year. Look at all the extra books on the shelf,” says Michael Bruce, a history teacher with a 24-year career at Fair Haven.

A graduate of the school himself, Bruce channels his passion for the institution into his teaching. As the teacher of AP Psychology, as well as two other upper-level electives, he is concerned for the longevity of advanced programs.

“If we continue the way we’re trending right now with more kids going and less classes like this, it will start to limit the opportunities for people that stay.

Benjamin Worthing, one of FHUMHS’s co-principals, emphasizes how the lack of seniors within the building alters the process of how underclassmen integrate into the high school.

“One thing that happens at the school-level is that we lose some of our most mature students, who are the role models, so that’s a tough thing to deal with,” he said.

In a small-town school with roughly 600 students spanning grades 7-12, seniors are depended on to lead traditions. When 73 out of the 90 seniors do not attend all-school assemblies, there is a dramatic shift in culture.

“When I first started here, that [the senior bleachers] would be full. All the seniors were here all day long,” he said.

Worthing’s mention of a culture shift was also mentioned in an interview with Clarabel Redondo, an Early College student and current Fair Haven senior.

Redondo, who took three out of the seven AP classes offered her junior year, states that Early College was the most natural step in her education path. Both of her siblings also pursued Early College during their senior year, she said.

“Fair Haven wasn’t that bad. It’s just that going to Castleton would be a shiny new experience for me,” she said.

Redondo is not worried about spending her senior year off-campus, stating, “just because I’m not doing my last year, doesn’t mean that my traditional high school experience is suddenly gone forever.”

The Early College experience includes new people, new clubs, and new class offerings, students said. Fair Haven students want to further advance their education, and Fair Haven teachers are at a crossroads.

“I don’t want to selfishly try to keep a kid here for the sake of Fair Haven when it would be better for them to go there,” Bruce said.

Bruce, a prominent fixture of the Slater community, cherishes his relationships with students. Surrounded by two decades worth of photos with students and “forever family,” Bruce said, “if there’s an institution that’s close to my love for this place, it’s that place … I just want what’s best for the kids.”