Wednesday marked the start of classes for many school districts, including the Rochester City School District.
As students arrived at Montessori Academy and Nathaniel Hawthorne School on Scio Street, the energy was palpable.
As they stepped off buses or walked with parents or siblings, students as young as three and as old as about 11 faced their first day of school.
For Saint Iheukwu, it was his first day of school ever.
“I’m feeling good,” Saint said.
His mom, Philomina Emeka-Iheukwu, said he was up til midnight because he was so excited.
“I actually was so excited for him too,” Emeka-Iheukwu said. “I really knew that he's so comfortable about it, but it's me getting to hold myself so I don't have to cry.”
Principal Kimberly Harris-Pappin caught a student frowning with her arms crossed.
“Uh oh. Uh uh, we don’t come in here with our arms crossed,” Harris-Pappin said.
Only when the student opened up even a little bit did the principal let her head into the building. Harris-Pappin says enriching children’s lives through education and a school community is at the heart of her work.
“Having little ones in front of you or having children in front of you, it doesn't matter the age, is your opportunity to make a difference,” she said. “Education is definitely a life calling and so if you've been called to do the work, every moment is an enjoyable moment (or) can be.”
One thing families could expect this year at her school, Harris-Pappin said, is an absence of out-of-school suspensions.
“Students usually act out for a reason,” she said. “So I don't believe in suspension. It's an intervention. So what are the needs of the student? … If we believe in the whole child, then we make certain that we attend to the needs of them as an individual. … Sending them home is not necessarily the answer.”
According to a 2020 study published in the National Library of Medicine, there is a strong correlation between out-of-school suspension and later incarceration in adulthood. This is often referred to as the school-to-prison pipeline.
Deputy Superintendent Ruth Turner said as teachers and staff focus on taking care of students, she wants to see the district take care of teachers and staff.
"One of the things that's very dear to me and at the top of my mind is educator wellness,” Turner said. “In order to really pour into our students, we as a district also have to pour into our teachers and staff so that they're at full capacity to be able to do the hard work each and every day of meeting the needs of our students.”
Those supports include teacher wellness initiatives, and a limited number of free therapy sessions through an Employee Assistance Program, Turner said.
The district is also fortifying mental health resources this year. Turner says a rollout of more on-campus health clinics and an expansion of telehealth options at schools is underway this year, with a plan to cover each school within the next four years.
Another part of that work, she said, is about responding to conflicts in a way that centers community.
“One of the things that we're doing this year is something that we're calling our Restorative Hub, which is going to be in the Douglas Campus on the third floor,” she said. “And part of that space is to create a space to build community, and to also address wrongdoing when it occurs.”
Pathways to Peace officers will be part of that work as well, she said, in cases where gang intervention and prevention are needed.
School was scheduled to start at 7:30 a.m., but a minute before 8 a.m. the last bus pulled out of the bus loop. For some students, their bus didn’t show up.
Superintendent Carmine Peluso says a national shortage of staff, like bus drivers, is an issue they’re feeling locally.
“Transportation is an area where we have to think about how we can maximize our resources and do more with less sometimes,” Peluso said.
He said the district is also looking for more bilingual and special education staff. That would help some of the roughly 50 migrant students who recently relocated to Rochester and have just enrolled in city schools in the past few weeks.
Peluso says many are Spanish-speaking and have been enrolled in bilingual schools like School 17.
“We'll accept any student that comes through our door and into our community and make sure that we set them up for success with their education,” he said.
He said his goal for this school year is to build up students’ well-being and accelerate students’ learning outcomes.
According to a 2022 National Report Card, only about 30 percent of fourth and eighth-grade students in New York state are at or above grade level in math and reading.
