At JWood Raw, a snippet of “Happy” by Pharrell Williams played over the public announcement system functions as the school’s bell and signifies the start of the school day. The song matched well with the school community’s feelings as students found their classrooms, parents took photos, and staff welcomed everyone on the first day of the school’s operations.
Staff stood inside and outside the school helping students clutching new school supplies get to where they needed to go.
Parents Chris and Jen McCart walked with their kids through the school to their classrooms. The McCarts are new to South Reno and are excited for their two children, a third grader and a fifth grader, to make friends at JWood Raw.
“I think it’s exciting that they get to break in a new building and get to know kids from different schools that are coming together and new kids that are just moving into the area,” Chris said. “We are relatively new, so this is a nice experience for everyone to kind of get to know a new area together.”
The McCarts’ son went to Brown Elementary School for a couple of months last year while they homeschooled their daughter. Even on a hectic first day, they were impressed with the school’s traffic layout and openness compared to the overcrowded environment at Brown.
Morgan Coates, the mom of a third grade boy, also complimented the traffic layout. Her son is moving from Poulakidas Elementary School to JWood Raw. She acknowledged some new school growing pains, but was optimistic about the upcoming year.
“It’s always hard when it’s brand-new and you need to figure out new ways to navigate, but I think we’ll do really well this year just because of how close it is to our house, personally,” Coates said. “And we don’t have to do any bus situations.”
She and her son live right across the marsh from their new school and plan to walk to school everyday except for when it’s snowing. A sign above I-580 on Monday morning reminded drivers to be careful when driving around schools now that students are back walking and biking to school.
Jose Davila IV is a corps member for Report for America, an initiative of the GroundTruth Project.
