School day out at Highland Retreat is a long-time tradition at EMHS. The sun shone on this year’s time of community building and fun. Photo by Anna Stempel ’21
This fall marks the first time that all grades K-12 are on one campus… and in one building! After 13 years of growth off site, the elementary grades moved into the main building at 801 Parkwood Drive for the school year while expansion and renovation is completed on the adjacent former MennoMedia building and property (See Let the Children Come Update). The summer was abuzz with teachers and staff showing creativity and collaboration:
- Upstairs wing of the new section of the building was vacated to make room for elementary classrooms.
- Upper level teachers who had been in that wing, moved rooms to partitioned areas of the dining hall and elsewhere in the building.
- Elementary teachers sorted and moved from the Route 11 site.
- Teachers, staff and students cleaned up the tennis court area to create outdoor elementary learning space, including a gaga court.
- Library staff and volunteers created beautiful facilities for library needs for all levels.
- Facilities staff and student workers hauled, lifted, painted, cleaned, organized and made it all work.
- Dining hall staff developed systems to accommodate K-12 lunchtime needs.
Jakob Gerlach ’23 sends a Frisbee flying while Abdullah Babel ‘23 looks on at Westover Park during the middle school’s First Friday of fun off site. Photo by Andrew Gascho
By day one, all was ready to welcome the nearly 350 students who make up our community!
During our first K-12 convocation, each student received a tile/stone/button to symbolize how each person contributes to the whole. During the service, students and staff put their unique piece in a jar to create one beautiful piece. Readers from each division shared Scripture and we learned American Sign Language to “Jesus Loves Me.”
