Silver City Schools to Hold Free 'Yard Sale' at Closing Sixth Street Elementary

Superintendent says the sale aims to help clear out old educational materials, furnishings and other items before the school shuts down.

Published on Mar. 5, 2026

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Silver Consolidated Schools is holding a free 'yard sale' at Sixth Street Elementary School to dispose of old educational materials, furnishings and other items as the school prepares to close at the end of the current academic year. The sale attracted a large crowd on Saturday, with people looking for items ranging from textbooks to bowling pins. The district plans to consolidate students and staff from Sixth Street and Jose Barrios Elementary into other schools to save on maintenance costs amid declining enrollment.

Why it matters

The closure of Sixth Street Elementary is part of a broader effort by the Silver Consolidated School District to make better use of its facilities and reduce maintenance costs as student enrollment declines. The free yard sale is an opportunity for the community to acquire items with historical and practical value before the school shuts down.

The details

The yard sale featured a wide variety of items, including tables, student chairs, office chairs, holiday decorations, textbooks, and even bowling pins. Some of the furnishings dated back to the 1950s and 1960s. Staff carefully documented the items as they were taken out of the building, though some predated the district's inventory records. Teachers and community members were able to find useful materials, such as science-based reading resources and musical instruments.

  • The yard sale took place on Saturday, March 4, 2026.
  • Sixth Street Elementary School is set to close at the end of the current academic year.

The players

William Hawkins

Superintendent of Silver Consolidated Schools.

Bobbie Sierra

A special education teacher at G.W. Stout Elementary School who previously taught at Sixth Street Elementary.

Melanie Duran

A community member who visited the yard sale in part because her husband had been a student at Sixth Street Elementary.

Heather Kulp

A representative of Spectrum Performing Arts, a local nonprofit that provides music education, who was looking for musical instruments at the yard sale.

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What they’re saying

“It was a great opportunity. From a nostalgia standpoint, you're never going to know what people are going to see.”

— William Hawkins, Superintendent (scdailypress.com)

“I'm really into the science of reading right now. I'm actually finding really good old materials that are more relevant. We've kind of gotten away and gotten more into the technology, and so just getting back to old school is kind of where I'm going in my teaching.”

— Bobbie Sierra, Special Education Teacher (scdailypress.com)

What’s next

The Silver Consolidated School District's Board of Education has scheduled a special meeting on March 9, 2026 to discuss the potential disposition of the Sixth Street and Jose Barrios Elementary School buildings. Western New Mexico University intends to acquire Sixth Street to use as a proposed Center of Excellence for Early Childhood Education, while Aldo Leopold Charter School has expressed interest in Jose Barrios.

The takeaway

This free yard sale represents a community-driven effort to repurpose and preserve educational resources and historical items from Sixth Street Elementary before the school closes. It highlights the challenges faced by school districts with declining enrollment, as well as the value that local residents and organizations can find in these types of transitional events.