A pair of neighboring schools hosted an annual family reunion of sorts Thursday signaling the fast-approaching start to a new school year now 10 days away.
Mountain View Elementary School and Union Grove Middle School welcomed hundreds of family members to a Back-to-School bash that united new and returning school staff members, new and returning students and a large variety of local vendors.
Photos are available at www.killeenisd.org/photos
Mountain View Principal Christy Galloway and Union Grove Principal Ben Hess are both Killeen ISD natives thrilled to embrace the start of school.
Waves of residents moved between the two schools, which occupy the same intersection in Harker Heights.
The city closed a small section of street the schools share, allowing easy access and creating a staging area for food trucks and a car show.
The Mountain View parking lot also contained emergency vehicles where residents interacted with first responders. A few games occupied children in the shade of the elementary school building.
Even nearby Harker Heights High School got in on the event with JV Rosettes and varsity Crimson Belles dance teams performing in the middle school gym with the Union Grove Golden Belles.
“It started with (former Union Grove Principal) Dr. (Paula) Lawrason with the idea to better connect everybody and let people get excited about the school year and know about all our community supporters,” said Hess.
“It’s one of my favorite parts (of the year),” he said of the back-to-school season. “It gets everyone ready to start the school year.”
Educators, he said, naturally seem to love the process of seeing student growth from the early elementary years through middle school and beyond.
More than 40 partners took part in the dual campus bash this year, requiring the vendor fair to spread out even more between the two schools.
“It’s such a great opportunity for our parents and the Union Grove parents to meet the new staff, see our new families, reunite with the families that have been with us for so long. It’s become a tradition between our two schools,” said Galloway.
“I think a new school year is almost like Christmas,” she said. “Seeing the kids and our staff so refreshed with new ideas and excited to set up their classrooms is a great feeling.”
The return to school continues this next week with middle school readiness Tuesday, high school readiness Wednesday and elementary Meet the Teacher Thursday.
The first day of school is Monday, Aug. 17.
www.killeenisd.org/backtoschool