'New school, new beginning': GECDSB opens its 14th new school in 15 years

While it's not uncommon for students to feel first-day-of school jitters, grade eight students at Eastview Horizon Elementary said they could not sleep knowing they would be part of the school's first graduating class.

Eastview Horizon Public School reopened Tuesday in the city's Forest Glade neighbourhood at 3070 Stillmeadow Rd.

The site is the former home of Parkview Public School, while the old location for Eastview Horizon was located about a 20-minute walk away.

The newly-constructed Eastview Horizon Elementary replaces both schools.

"It was so hard for me to fall asleep last night because I was so excited. I'm really happy to be here," said grade eight student Zariya Watson.

Muhammed Alganin said he felt really nervous heading into the first day of school — and for good reason.

"New school, new beginning," said Alganin, who added that he loves the new gym.

But the start of the school year does come with some level of concern for school board officials. That's because, in the U.S., some school districts have reportedly cancelled in-person learning and reinstated mask mandates due to a rise in COVID-19 cases.

A spokesperson for the Greater Essex County District School Board said, locally, it will not make any such decisions independently.

"Though we are certainly concerned and we keep it in mind, we will wait until we get direction from either the Ministry of Education or the Windsor-Essex County Health Unit," said GECDSB Spokesperson, Scott Scantlebury.

Eastview Horizon marks the public school board’s 14th new build in the past 15 years.

Vicki Houston, education director for the GECDSB, said working air conditioning is a top priority in the construction of the board's newer schools. In fact, effective air conditioning was vital when Eastview Horizon reopened on Tuesday, as Windsor-Essex and the rest of southern Ontario was in the middle of a heat warning.

"Some of our older buildings do not have air conditioning but there have been upgrades in terms of air circulation in those buildings. Our goal, ultimately, is to replace our schools with air conditioning in all of them," said Houston.

He added, "In a lot of schools, we also have a lot of outdoor education areas and most of those are shaded. So taking the students out there can be very beneficial."

Currently, one-fifth of the public board’s schools are younger than 20 years old.

That youth comes with new technology. The GECDSB said around 75 per cent of its schools have seen the installation of ViewBoard technology.

The video boards, installed in common areas and classrooms, allow for messages to be displayed to parents, students and teachers inside the school.

These messages can range from updates on buses arriving late, photo slideshows of school events and news from the school board.

"I can push down messages directly from the board office to the lobbies of each of the schools and the schools also have the ability to send messages specific to their schools," said Madeline McEachern, GECDSB communications officer. "Schools can articulate whatever they want to communicate to their school communities and I can do the same as well."

In some cases, schools may use ViewBoard technology to replace the need for morning announcements.

"Students could still get their morning announcements. But if the parents come in, they are able to get the messages from each of the schools if the principals want to use this technology in that manner," said McEachern.

But despite the technological advancements in Windsor-Essex schools, the excitement of students heading back to class remains timeless.

While Watson and Alganin know they will only be able to enjoy the new elementary school for just one year, both students are happy to make history as part of Eastview Horizon's first graduating class from its new location.

"It feels special because we're going to be the first ones," said Watson. "I hope all the grade one’s look up to us, be good leaders, follow the rules and have a good time."