Gallery • 10 Photos

Photo by Claudia Zaunz

A mother and her children brave the rain Thursday evening to attend the parent/student open house at the new Marshall Elementary School, which opens today.

The excitement was big among students and parents as they discovered the Marshall Elementary School building for the first time at an open house reception Thursday evening, Aug. 26.

Despite the rain, students carried their school supplies and backpacks into their classrooms and happily greeted classmates and teachers after a long time of online learning. 

“We love to see the children in the building instead of on the screen,” said reading teacher Lisa Dyer as she greeted families that visited the school.

The open house was held the evening before the school opened for all children except kindergarten. The new $13.6 million Marshall building has been built right next to where the old Marshall Elementary School stood at 3260 Oxford-Millville Road. Previously, only video tours were available to the school community. The rest of the schools in Talawanda School District opened last week, but Marshall was delayed while construction crews made the final finishing touches.

“The newness is exciting. It’s bright and cheery, and there is lots of natural light and colors,” said Marshall Principal Chad Hinton.

Hinton said that part of the reason why school started Friday instead of waiting until the beginning of the week is so the children have the first day to get acclimated to the new building. “That way they can come in and have all that excitement and get used to what it is, and we can really get started with school next week,” he said. 

Upgraded technology and electrical systems, air conditioning throughout the building, and breakout spaces in the hallways for small groups and individual tutoring are appreciated features by both parents and teachers. 

“Our technology will be a lot better and a lot easier to access,” said Lynne Mattox, a special education teacher. “We have more space and it’s bright, clean and shiny. It’s a lot of fun.”

“The layout is nice for the movement of the kids and I think they’ll enjoy the new spaces and modern technology,” said Aaron Weekley, a parent of a fifth grader and second grader at the school.

Two hundred-forty students will start school today, Friday Aug. 27. One hundred more will discover the building Sept. 1 when the kindergarten opens.