Classes in the North Royalton School District begin on Monday, August 30. You could say the new school year begins a new era of education for parents in North Royalton and Broadview Heights.
First, there is a new Superintendent of North Royalton Schools. Michael Laub takes over for Greg Gurka who recently retired. The excitement that Laub has for being a new superintendent, in a new district, in a new school year is boundless.
“I couldn’t be more excited to be a part of the Bear Family! It is an honor to serve the families of North Royalton and Broadview Heights. I am very appreciative that the Board of Education has provided me this opportunity,” said Laub.
Secondly, there is a new building for elementary-aged students to attend school. The new North Royalton Elementary School, located near the corner of State Road and Valley Parkway, will open to students this year.
The North Royalton community will get a chance to look at the new school building on Saturday, August 28, at 11 a.m., when a ribbon cutting ceremony will be held.
Ground was broken on the nearly 145,000 square foot building on August 30, 2019. Construction will have been completed just a few days short of two years.
The new elementary building will replace Albion, Royal View and Valley Vista Elementary Schools.
“The new elementary is beautiful. We are finalizing a very small punch list at this time and our staff has been in the building since July setting up their rooms. This building provides the flexibility to do some very creative and engaging things with students. Having the building grade level configured puts all of our staff in a position to plan and collaborate with each other daily and that is very beneficial to student learning,” said Laub.
North Royalton School Board President Heidi Dolezal shared in the excitement of opening the New Elementary School building.
“It’s a great setting for the new building with trees all around. The new technology will create new learning options for students,” said Dolezal. “Teachers will have greatly enhanced lesson plans for students. Gone are the days of small classrooms and students sitting behind a desk the entire school day.”
Dolezal said this new building would not be possible without the approval of a tax issue in May 2017. She added, “A big thank you to the voters. Despite COVID, the building was completed on time and on budget.”
The halls of the new North Royalton Elementary building will be filled with students who were forced to learn last year in their living room, dining room or bedroom because of COVID.
“My children are so excited,” said new Elementary School parent Ashley Parani. “It’s perfect timing. They are going back for in-person learning in a brand new building. The Jump Start Program has been a big help in getting them used to the building. They go to the building on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays for 2-1/2 hours at a time.”
I asked Ashley what her kids’ favorite part of the new building is? “The two playgrounds are pretty cool. And they like the Library.”
The new structure will offer challenges in getting students to the building, whether it’s on a yellow school bus or by car. There’s a new traffic light at State and Valley Parkway that will regulate cars in that area. Superintendent Laub is asking for patience in working through the expected crush of traffic.
“We have an excellent transportation department. It is a very large task, transporting that many students every day, but our team in the transportation department works hard to get our students to school and all of their events safely. The beginning of the year is always a challenge, so I would like to remind everyone that patience during the first few weeks of school will be important as we iron out our routes and learn what things are going to look like at our new elementary building,” said Laub.
All the excitement surrounding the opening of the school year and the opening of the new North Royalton Elementary building is clouded somewhat by the Delta variant of COVID and how to keep students and employees safe while on campus. Superintendent Laub shares those concerns.
“We are currently processing all of the information we have to make a final decision on what school will look like. We will be in person this year and do not plan to have a digital option. Our goal is to understand and implement the Health Department guidance based on our local data. Our other goal is to do everything we can to keep students in school by understanding the quarantine and isolation protocols and setting up an environment to allow us to have as few students and staff in that situation as possible. We learned a great deal last year of how to safely have in-person instruction and we will continue with things like cleaning practices, increased ventilation, encouraging people who do not feel well to not come to school…etc.”
And as we know, the situation with COVID, and now the variant can change in an instant.
But, the most important part of education is students, the classroom and the teachers.
“I look forward to welcoming all of our students back to the 2021-2022 school year. Our kindergarten students will start their journey in a new building and be the first official class to journey through the district with their same grade level peers at every level. We are excited to serve these students and their families for the next 13 years” said Superintendent Laub.
By JOE JASTRZEMSKI
Contributing Writer