The leaves of anticipation stirred among the eighth graders at Eastview Horizon Elementary School, as they stood on the precipice of their new academic journey. The night before was one of restless delight, with the students excited about embarking on the last leg of their educational marathon in a school that was to celebrate its first graduating class.
Eastview Horizon Public School, nestled in the city’s Forest Glade neighbourhood, unfurled its doors on Tuesday at its newly established address – 3070 Stillmeadow Rd. History seems to have come full circle, as this site was earlier the seat of Parkview Public School, while the former address of Eastview Horizon was a 20-minute walk from its new installments. The freshly minted Eastview Horizon Elementary, an architectural marvel in itself, now holds the baton of education from both its predecessors.
Zariya Watson, a buoyant grade eight student, shared her exhilaration, saying, “It was so hard for me to fall asleep last night because I was so excited. I’m really happy to be here.” Even Muhammed Alganin echoed similar sentiments, despite battling first-day-of-school nerves. Embracing the “new school, new beginning” mantra, Alganin confessed his fondness for the school’s new gym.
The sense of excitement is not without an undercurrent of caution. The recent surge in COVID-19 cases in the U.S which has forced some school districts to ditch in-person learning and adopt mask mandates, looms ominously over the school board officials. However, representatives from the Greater Essex County District School Board assert that any local decision concerning health safety will be driven by directives from either the Ministry of Education or the Windsor-Essex County Health Unit.
Eastview Horizon Elementary is a testament to the Greater Essex County District School Board’s mission of academic advancement, marking their 14th new construction in the past 15 years. According to Vicki Houston, the education director for the GECDSB, one of the topmost considerations for the new constructions is effective air conditioning, a necessity evidenced by the sweltering heat wave currently sweeping across Windsor-Essex and the rest of southern Ontario.
At present, the youthful vigour of academic exploration dwells in one-fifth of the public board’s schools, all less than 20 years old. This modern infrastructure comes equipped with new technology, evident in around 75% of the GECDSB schools boasting of installed ViewBoard technology. This facilitates the display of messages to parents, students, and teachers inside the school, ranging from transportation updates to snapshots of school events. This technological benefit can even substitute for traditional morning announcements.
Yet, beneath all the digital advancements and the sheen of a new building, the ageless excitement of students returning to school remains constant. As the students, Watson and Alganin, look forward to their final year, there’s a unique pleasure in knowing that they are setting a precedent, aspiring to be role models for the younger ones, and creating history as Eastview Horizon’s first graduating class from its new location. As Watson put it, “It feels special because we’re going to be the first ones. I hope all the grade one’s look up to us, be good leaders, follow the rules and have a good time.”
