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On its website, Wells addressed questions about the future of Peachtown and the Community Medical Center, which is also on the college's campus. The college said it has contacted the organizations and is working on a long-term solution. The state attorney general's office is involved because of the college's nonprofit status.Ìý

Alyssa Binns Gunderson, head of school at Peachtown, confirmed in an email to Ë®¹ûÅÉAV Monday that Wells has been in communication about the closure and how it will affect the private school, which has 27 students in prekindergarten through eighth grade.Ìý

"We are working quickly to do everything possible to stay in our current location and are trying to be patient as we wait to hear from the AG's office through our contacts at Wells," Gunderson said.Ìý

Peachtown was founded in 1990 by Barbara Post, a Wells College alumna. For the first two years, the school was located on Main Street in Aurora.Ìý

In 1992, then-Wells President Robert Plane invited Peachtown to move into the former dean's residence on campus. Peachtown agreed to rent the building in exchange for working closely with the college, especially students in the nascent elementary education program.Ìý

Gunderson said Peachtown has enjoyed a "symbiotic relationship" with the Wells community. The school has hosted preservice teachers from Wells' education department, worked with interns from the college and supervised five to seven students every year through the college's work study program.Ìý

There are other benefits to being located on the Wells campus. Gunderson said college professors would host or visit Peachtown students when their expertise aligned with study subjects. The school also had weekly access to the college's pool and gym. Phipps Auditorium, a venue on the Wells campus, hosted the school's annual play.Ìý

"These are the first things that come to mind when I think about the loss of Wells, but there really is so much more," Gunderson said. "We are still in the grief phase and are trying to wrap our heads around all the ways that this will profoundly change our own program and the lives of our students, faculty and staff."

Peachtown staff and students, like others in Aurora and beyond, will be affected by the closure. Gunderson said three students have parents who work at the college, while two other students are the children of Wells alums.Ìý

Gunderson, who succeeded Post as head of school in 2019, earned her state teacher certification at Wells. Other members of the teaching staff and Peachtown's board of directors are Wells alums.Ìý

"We are all so very sad to see the end of this era," she said.Ìý