ABOUT THE MOVIE
Rural schools are fighting for their future. America’s future is tied to theirs.
Forgotten Schools: America’s Quiet Crisis, tells the story of small-town rural America through the schools at the heart of its communities.
Forgotten Schools: America’s Quiet Crisis is a real and honest conversation about the struggles facing rural schools, told through the voices of students, educators, families, and community members who experience them firsthand.
The future of rural schools is deeply connected to the future of the communities they serve and preserving both means preserving a way of life and a vital piece of America itself.
46.2 MILLION
Americans live in nonmetropolitan counties.
Source: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service (USDA ERS), Population & Migration. July 2024 population estimates; page updated February 13, 2026.
72%
Of the nation’s land area is within nonmetropolitan counties.
U.S. Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service (USDA ERS), Population & Migration, updated February 13, 2026.
30,000+
Public schools are located in rural areas across the United States.
National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), Education Demographic and Geographic Estimates (EDGE), School Geocodes & Geoassignments, 2024–25.
NEARLY 1 IN 5
U.S. public school students attended a rural school.
U.S. Department of Education, Rural Education Resource Center, citing NCES Digest of Education Statistics, Table 214.40, Fall 2022.12
6,000+
PUBLIC SCHOOLS HAVE CLOSED IN RURAL U.S. COUNTIES SINCE 1998
PUBLIC SCHOOLS HAVE CLOSED IN RURAL U.S. COUNTIES SINCE 1998
When a rural school closes, a community can lose more than a school. Research finds that school closures can contribute to population loss, underscoring the connection between rural schools and the communities they serve.
Source: Joseph Sageman, “School Closures and Rural Population Decline,” Rural Sociology, 87(3), 2022, 960–992. Based on NCES Common Core of Data and U.S. Census records.
