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Elvin Hill Elementary School saw a successful start to the 2024-2025 school year after completing the first day of school on Aug. 8. (Reporter photos/Alec Etheredge)

By NOAH WORTHAM | Managing Editor

COLUMBIANA – Parents posed with their little ones for group photos before eagerly escorting them inside for an exciting first day of school at Elvin Hill Elementary School on Thursday, Aug. 8.

EHES Principal Courtney Madison said the staff always enjoy getting back into the new school year and seeing new faces as well as returning ones.

“I couldn’t have asked for a better, smoother first day,” Madison said.

For Madison and the rest of the staff at EHES, the first day of school is a moment that has long been planned for with three particular goals in mind for the first day.

“We have three goals on the first day of school and that’s to get them here and accounted for, feed them and make sure everybody gets home the right way,” Madison said. “I would say it was a success.”

This year, the staff at EHES are focused on the overarching theme “Making moments matter” which serves as the driving force behind the educational efforts of all of the teachers and staff.

“I am happy with how we started out and I hope that those moments are the things that carry us throughout the year just clinging to that and knowing that every encounter, every lesson, every relationship—it all matters,” Madison said. “We’re on our way to really achieving that and seeing that through this year.”

An important part of the first day of school is serving the schools newest students—the kindergarteners—who are nervous about their big debut at Elvin Hill. In order to make the transition as smooth as possible, EHES works with students and parents in the weeks leading up to day one.

Elvin Hill Elementary hosted a kindergarten camp July 30-31 to get the young class of 2037 adjusted to the campus and to inform parents with an additional meet the teacher day on Aug. 6. Holding both events allows the school to acquaint the kindergarteners with the sights and sounds of their school as well as their new teacher. The event also serves to ease the anxieties of parents who have to entrust the care of their special little one to the educators at EHES.

“We know when school starts, they are with us more than they are at home throughout the week,” Madison said. “So, we feel like it’s comforting for parents just to get a look into their classrooms, into their teachers, so that they know who will be on the other side—caring and teaching their (kids) every day.”

Work to prepare Elvin Hill for the new year began even earlier than the kindergarten camps, with teachers taking the time to engage in personal development and set up their rooms to be the perfect, safe and colorful space to teach in and with custodians ensuring every inch of the building is shiny, clean and ready for another year.

“It is amazing to see what they (teachers) put into it,” Madison said. “I don’t know if I could actually put a number on the number of hours that they spend just prepping for the year.”

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