Carla Clark | For The Republic
Teacher Megan Erickson walks with Charly Erickson on BCSC first day of school at W. D. Richards Elementary School in Columbus, Ind., Thursday, August 3, 2023.
Bartholomew Consolidated School Corp. had its first day of school on Thursday, with mild and sunny weather as students and teachers filed into class.
“It’s always a new start,” said Darin Sprong, Richards Elementary principal. “This is year 21 as a principal, and it’s always a fresh start.”
Shelby McRae, fifth grade teaching assistant at Richards, said that she’s excited to see “all the new faces” this year.
“And getting to see me regularly!” chimed in her son, fifth grader Gannon McRae.
When asked how he felt about the first day of school, fourth grader Aiden McRae replied, “Good and bad combined.”
On the other hand, Olivia Curfman — also in the fourth grade — said that she’s feeling great.
“I just missed school so much,” she said, adding that she’s excited to see her friends more often. When asked what her favorite subject is, she replied that she likes math.
“It still blows my mind that she likes math. Nobody likes math,” said Nicole Curfman, mother and special education teaching assistant at Richards.
“We’re pretty excited,” said parent Lauren Brown, whose son goes to Richards. “He’s in kindergarten this year, so it’s a big change for us.”
The year also brings a big change for sixth grade teacher Kayla Rice, who will be going on maternity leave later this year with her first child. She said that it’s going to be hard “wanting to be with my students here, but knowing I need to be at home.”
Another person undergoing a major shift is Michael Parsons, who became principal of Columbus East High School in July.
Parsons previously served as principal at Clifty Creek Elementary. His predecessor, Mark Newell, was principal of East for 15 years and now serves as the director of adult and alternative education at the McDowell Education Center.
“Today, I got to interact with students that are obviously at a different level of maturity,” Parsons said. “But I have not felt any difference in elementary to high school in terms of my passion, my excitement for what I do, to creating a first-class culture and environment for our students. I don’t feel any different than what I did at Clifty. It’s the same passion, the same mission, just a different set of students.”
As of about 10:30 a.m., he said that things were going smoothly at East.
“(The first day) feels like it’s going very well thus far,” Superintendent Jim Roberts said at about 1 p.m. “Exciting to get back at it, been out and about in many buildings today, and it’s amazing how quickly things seem to get back to normal. Things are a little crowded in the morning as people try to figure out their transportation situation, probably more car riders on a first day, second day, than there will be later.”
Of course, the first day of school wouldn’t be complete without a couple of hiccups — such as the sidewalk next to the Richards being somewhat blocked by the removal of a dead tree, or buses being a couple minutes late in the morning.
Still, Sprong said that five minutes off schedule isn’t too bad for the first day of school.
“If we can get them home this afternoon, we’ll call it a win!” he joked to one of the drivers.
When asked if he feels like things are getting back to normal, Sprong replied that he does.
“There’s been a lot of learning loss over the past couple years, but it’s nice to see a normal first day of school,” he said. “It feels good.”
Roberts said that things mostly seem to be back to normal when it comes to summer preparations and the start of a new year, though there are some holdovers from the pandemic.
“COVID really created a lot of tension, and that tension led to other feelings and concerns,” he said. “And so those, some of those continue to be there, and we’ll continue to work with families and the community to address any of those challenges or issues. But we are — each year is closer to how it felt pre-COVID. And today has felt the best of any first day that we’ve had since.”
In discussing what’s on his mind as the new year starts, Roberts noted that East and North are implementing a new teams model for administration, Canvas has replaced itslearning as the district’s learning management system, and BCSC officials are doing some strategic planning around future facility projects.
“I don’t ever feel like there is a normal, even pre-COVID,” said Rice. “Every year brings its own changes and dynamics. … That makes it exciting, though, I think.”
