June 4th, 2020

Dear OBT School Students and Families –

Your OBT School staff has been working tirelessly to maintain a sense of continuity for our students, and we are certainly enjoying seeing your dancers participate in our Google classroom and Zoom online classes.

A difficult decision has been made and unfortunately effective immediately our OBT School West Linn campus will close permanently due to consequences relating to the Coronavirus pandemic.

The OBT School West Linn satellite has experienced so much growth and progress within the past few years, including scheduling senior faculty, hosting ballet intensives throughout the year, and adding new classes and levels to the programming. The West Linn Junior Intensive held in the summer weeks has also grown into a full day program for our Levels 1 and 2 students. Unfortunately, those recent gains are not abundant enough to withstand the recent health and safety challenges we are all facing.
We certainly hope that you will continue to study ballet at Oregon Ballet Theatre. All students wishing to transfer enrollment from West Linn to our Portland campus will be warmly welcomed as we consolidate and ‘Dance On. Dance Strong’! Summer programming scheduled for West Linn will be integrated into the summer programming in Portland – content and details to follow.

For fall session registration, West Linn students wishing to transfer to our Portland campus will be given priority enrollment consideration and will be embraced as they join the main campus. The need for sensible consolidation and stewardship of resources is apparent. We welcome your feedback, questions, and thoughts as we navigate this passage in time toward a very bright future for OBT.

Yours sincerely,

Marion Tonner, OBT School Director
Kevin Irving, OBT Artistic Director

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DANCE ON DANCE STRONG

Oregon Ballet Theatre School |schoolofobt@obt.org