We, the undersigned families, alumni, staff, and community members, respectfully ask the Ventura Unified School District Board of Education to keep Lemon Grove School open as a TK–8 campus.

Lemon Grove is more than a school building. It is a thriving school community that families actively choose and a place where students can build meaningful relationships and a strong sense of belonging across their elementary and middle school years.

We believe the District should consider the following when evaluating Lemon Grove’s future:

Lemon Grove attracts and retains families.
Families choose Lemon Grove because of the experience it provides—not simply because it is their assigned school. Our enrollment includes families who have chosen Lemon Grove over other educational options, including families from outside the District. These families represent enrollment that VUSD might otherwise lose.

Lemon Grove’s TK–8 model provides continuity for students and families.
Students have the opportunity to remain within one school community through eighth grade, building relationships with teachers, staff, and peers over many years. This continuity is a meaningful part of what families value about Lemon Grove.

Lemon Grove provides a distinctive school community.
Our school offers a close-knit environment in which students are known, families are involved, and older and younger students share a common school identity. The relationships and community built at Lemon Grove cannot simply be transferred to another campus by moving students from one enrollment list to another.

Closing Lemon Grove would have consequences beyond the number of students enrolled today.
The District should consider where current Lemon Grove families would actually enroll their children if the school closed—including how many families would remain within VUSD, how many would seek other public or private educational options, and how many would leave the District altogether.

A school that families actively choose is an asset to VUSD.
Rather than viewing Lemon Grove solely through the lens of current enrollment, we ask the District to consider the families Lemon Grove attracts, the families it retains, and the unique educational community it provides.

We ask the Board of Education to preserve Lemon Grove as a TK–8 school and to consider the full value of this school to students, families, and the Ventura Unified School District before making a decision to close it.

Lemon Grove is a school families choose. We ask the District to choose Lemon Grove, too.