Harrison Street School Kicks Off New School Year, New Team Name!

Dozens of East Side parents took their children to Monday—two days before the new school year starts. But the kids weren’t complaining. Instead, they played carnival games, climbed the monkey bars, ate popcorn and cotton candy and greeted old classmates they haven’t seen since June at the school’s second annual school year kickoff party.

“It started last year as a meet-and-greet to welcome the new principal, Shonette Sims,” explained Harrison Street School PTO co-president Dana Hermann. “That was such a big success that we held it again this year. It’s a great way to get kids excited about going back to school.” Everything at the event was free, she added.

Harrison Street students have a new reason to celebrate this year. After going years without a team name or logo, the school adopted the “Harrison Street Hurricanes."

Students at the party signed a rain barrel displaying the new name and logo that the PTO donated. The rain barrel will sit in the school’s central courtyard, where it will help water the flower gardens there, Hermann said.

“This really is getting me psyched up for school,” said fifth-grader Destiny Shaffer as she played a bags game with friend Laura Termondt. “It’s showing me all the fun things the adults are planning for us to do this school year.”

“This is probably a good refresher for kids about going back to school,” said dad Mike Masters. “My daughter is going into second grade, and she’s seeing a lot of friends she didn’t get to see over the summer. She’s very excited about going back Wednesday.”

Families visited display tables describing various school groups, such as Cub Scouts and Brownies, as well as get information about upcoming fund-raisers.

“We’ve already seen a lot of interest from parents about having their children do Scouting,” noted Tara Maertens, Leaders Committee member for Cub Scout Pack 111.

Parents also took the opportunity to reconnect with each other while they watched their little ones on the playground. “We love this. The kids looked forward to it,” said Christine Gedergren, who chatted on the sidelines with Becky Knol and Baijayandi Toujale.

“The best part for me is meeting all the moms and just getting to talk with them,” Toujale added.

New students and their parents appreciated the chance to start making friends before classes start.

“This is our first year at this school, and it’s nice for me as a mom to come here and meet other parents and students,” said Jennifer Roy. “I also think it’s helping calm the butterflies in my daughter’s stomach.”

Fifth-grader Elizabeth Roy agreed.

“I’m looking forward to art class. The art room is really nice,” she said.