BETHLEHEM, Pa. — Teachers with the Bethlehem Area School District hit the streets on the south side of the city Thursday to welcome students to the start of a new school year. It’s called Southside Stride and it’s the fifth year they’re knocking on doors.
Third-grade teacher Aja Olivares works at Donegan Elementary. She said she’s participated in almost every year. She said the Southside Stride stems from a Freedom High School tradition where all the incoming ninth-graders get home visits.
- BASD teachers participated in the fifth annual Southside Stride
- School district staff knocked on students' doors to welcome them to a new school year
- Teachers say it helps first-day jitters
One door teachers knocked on was Moriah Gabrielli. Her five-year-old son Christian Freeman will start kindergarten at Donegan Elementary School later this month.
Gabrielli said three teachers came by with a backpack full of supplies. She said they gave Christian a backpack with items including a book and sunglasses. He tells his mom he’s eager to start kindergarten.
“I like kindergarten,” Christian said.
“What do you like about it,” Gabrielli said.
“Making new friends and playing and arts and crafts and that’s it,” he said.
"It was really nice to build those connections, to answer any questions, meet the kids, shake off those little jitters of the nerves going into a new school.”Donegan Elementary School teacher Aja Olivares
Olivares says the home visits help kids overcome the first-day jitters when classes begin. Teachers also visited homes of Fountain Hill Elementary School kindergarteners and sixth-graders going into Broughal Middle School. They are considered high-need schools and offer additional support offered to families of students who attend.
“This was actually our first time getting invited into some of the homes so we got to sit and chat and some living rooms and it was really nice to build those connections, to answer any questions, meet the kids, shake off those little jitters of the nerves going into a new school,” said Olivares.
Donegan Elementary School Principal Erin Martin-Medina said teachers visited 80 homes Thursday morning. She said home visits aim to set students up for success.
“I think the coolest thing though is that like if you're a kid who goes to Donegan and Broughal and then to Freedom High School, every transition that you experience in the Bethlehem Area School District, you have a team of people coming to your home to welcome you to that new school, to the new people,” she said. “Which I think is a really, really cool thing to be able to say that at every level.”
The school district also held a back-to-school event at Yosko Park after the home visits.
