First day of school brings some sense of normalcy

INDIANAPOLIS — Wednesday was the first day back to school for thousands of children in Indianapolis.

That includes students in Beech Grove, Clark-Pleasant, Perry and Wayne Townships.

“When my students come into the room, they know that this is a safe place – this is somewhere they can tell me anything, so I want to make it feel that way,” Kaylene Garber said.

Garber, a teacher at McClelland Elementary has been teaching for 15 years and she says this is her first-year teaching first grade.

She is part of a leadership team at the school that consists of 10 staff members that help with anything from problem-solving to scheduling.

“We are also the voice for our grade level so if there are concerns that maybe first grade has then maybe we can come to leadership and talk about that,” Garber said.

This first day of school comes with an added sense of normalcy after the last few years were spent under pandemic restrictions.

I’m excited for this year because we have a full year under our belt now and you can see that already in my first graders.

The staff at McClelland Elementary spent the summer working to make this year their best year yet.

“We have been studying the importance of connection and community and we feel like that’s just key,” Principal Jennifer Nichols said.

It’s the connection that will help these students grow – long after the first day of school.