CHESAPEAKE, Va. — Southeastern Elementary School in Chesapeake welcomed 800 students on the first day of school, celebrating the occasion with the completion of a new building addition.
The expansion adds 12 new classrooms, creating more learning space for students and staff. The new spaces are designed to support STEM activities and collaborative learning, and will allow teachers to open up spaces between classrooms for team teaching.
Superintendent Doug Brubaker said the energy on campus set a positive tone for the year ahead.
"You know, you see the enthusiasm on the faces of the kids and you see how excited the parents are to get the school year off to a good start," Brubaker said.
Principal Tracy Cioppa said the new classrooms bring features educators have long looked forward to having.
"The flexible seating options and all the natural lights that's available. Just a lot of really great things that we read about in our textbooks as we're becoming principals and teachers and just really excited to have in our building," Cioppa said.
Parents also shared their hopes for the new school year, including a focus on foundational skills.
"New learning techniques of course less tablets. But more writing skills. Maybe incorporating cursive back into the writing, just pushing them to their limit," one parent said.
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