A school in the Northern Marianas, the Ladera International School of Saipan, shut its doors last week, forcing students to scamper for other schools as the new term got underway.
The school, which served kindergarten to eighth grade students, says it's closing down partly because of the sagging economy and the difficulties it faced in recruiting foreign students from Korea.
The principal Dr Jack Angello, says the owners couldn't maintain the school and decided to suspend operations until new backers could be found.
