GRAND RAPIDS — Walking into Carrie Thorvig’s second grade classroom in Grand Rapids, you wouldn’t know she just moved in.
The shelves are fully stocked with bins of picture and chapter books, and each cupboard and seat are neatly labeled with numbers and names. At the open house on Thursday, Aug. 29, Mrs. Thorvig welcomed each child and family with a smile, answering questions ahead of the first day of school on Tuesday.
But Thorvig didn't step foot into her new classroom until early July. This is her 11th year teaching second grade, but her first year at West Rapids Elementary. She’s part of roughly half the staff at West who are new to the building after restructuring approved by the Grand Rapids School Board. Kindergarten through second grade is now at West, and third through fifth is at East Rapids Elementary.
Thorvig said she is very organized, so packing wasn’t too challenging.
“Unpacking was a lot more overwhelming just because you walked into your room and all your boxes were just kind of piled,” she said. “And you had to sort through all the boxes and kind of try to decide where to start.”
Thorvig said everyone’s stuff was moved much earlier than planned, which was helpful. Teachers were given a stipend and a full day last week to unpack. But she doesn’t know anyone who didn’t spend personal time setting up.
As she finished prepping materials before the open house, Thorvig said the custodians have been a wonderful help with the logistics of moving. But it’s still a transition.
“I think societally we’re really supportive of kids and transitions and acknowledge, ‘Oh, transitions are hard for kids,’” she said. “But I think they can be equally hard for adults too.”
It will be a change for kids as well, even if they aren’t switching schools. But Thorvig said she thinks East and West having the same layout will help.
“And I think kids are really resilient, and some of us are coming from East so ... there will be familiar faces for all of the kids.”
But for some kids, there may still be nerves.
Janie Heitz said her 7-year-old Phoebe was at West last year, and she’s a little nervous about having to transfer buses. Plus, this will be her first year without her older brother in the same school. Hank, 10, will be in fifth grade at East.
Janie said she thinks the grade-level building change makes sense. Her husband TJ isn’t so sure.
“I don’t get how it’s going to help things, but I haven’t really dug into their logic or reasoning either. My initial reaction was it’s just extra commuting for families but...” he said, trailing off and gesturing toward Janie.
“I guess for me it’s just, the kids would have been separated in a year later anyway, so we only have to do one year of going to multiple, you know — we’ll still have to go to multiple schools for the rest of our kids careers,” she said.
Parents aren’t the only ones with mixed opinions. Thorvig said there were teachers frustrated with the district’s decision, especially because they just moved into East and West five years ago.
“For me, I knew I would be working with staff that I worked with before, and I was looking forward to working with them again, and I was looking forward to working with the entire grade-level team,” she said.
“I understand the financial reasons and the balancing the classrooms reasons, and so I kind of see both sides of it.”
The move to grade-level buildings didn’t save the district money. Rather, it helped balance class sizes after teachers were cut — including one in second grade.
That means in addition to the move and a new reading curriculum, most teachers have two to four more students, which makes it harder to meet students’ individual needs. All told, Thorvig said there’s a lot on teachers’ plates this year.
“There’s always change, but this year it feels like there’s an exceptional amount of change,” she said. “And you just really have to focus on what you can control.”
But even with all the change, some things remain the same.
Fifth-grader Hank doesn’t know anything about all the behind-the-scenes action. He’s just excited for lunch and gym.
And despite what Mom thinks, Phoebe said she isn’t nervous about anything. She gets to celebrate her birthday on the second day of school, and she’s excited to see her friends again. Plus, she gets to be on the second floor.
“My friend, she was in second grade this year, and she didn’t get to go on the second floor, so now I’m before her,” Phoebe explained.
With an especially hectic new school year, Thorvig said it’s important to remember to give each other grace.
“There’s always going to be transportation issues that happen that first week and that first day, and we’re all really just doing the best that we can,” she said. “All of us who work in schools are here because we love kids, and we wouldn’t be here if we didn’t.”
