Park Elementary Principal Kelsey Sciacca said the fall semester started with a renewed emphasis on the school’s culture and its vision statement, “Every student, every day.”

Park also started school with a new therapy dog. More about that later.

Sciacca and staff reported on building progress Thursday when Park School hosted the Great Bend USD 428 Board of Education’s monthly luncheon meeting. This is her first year as principal, having previously worked as an instructional coach at Park.

“At the start of the school year, culture is big for us. Coming off of COVID, we feel normal right now. So we’re trying to get back to that,” she said. 

“We’re trying fun things,” Sciacca said. “School should be fun. The kids like that we don’t wear masks anymore, we get to be with our friends, and no one’s six feet apart. So we’re trying to make things fun. One thing we’ve done is Feet Up Fridays. Going into the classrooms, kids just put their feet up. They do not spend all day like that, but it’s a short, quick easy thing to do.

“When we think about our second-grade kids, that’s half of our school that has lived with COVID and that’s all they understand. So we’re trying to change our mindset.”

Right before school started, the teachers created welcoming chalk art on the sidewalk.

“It was amazing to me to see the parents who were excited about that and taking pictures,” she said. It’s all aimed at making a welcoming environment. There’s a colorful mural outside the office featuring the school mascot, a tiger. It was painted by local artist Melanie Ryan. Outside the front entrance, a sign features a different message written in chalk every day. Thursday’s message was, “It’s Friday Eve! Doesn’t that make Thursday sound so much better?”

Every day there are students and staff who serve as morning greeters. A “walk and talk” group meets on the playground on Tuesdays, and the Student and Family Advocate, Alana Blessing, leads a popular outdoor dance group before school. There are 55-60 kids who attend the “Cha-Cha Slide Dance Party,” Blessing said.

Theo the therapy puppy

And then there’s Theo, Park School’s brand new therapy puppy. He’ll take over for Rudy, a golden retriever that comforted and encouraged students at Park School for about four years.

Theo is only 10 weeks old, so he’s not yet a certified therapy dog, but will start training when he is older. For now, he’s getting used to the school environment and spends most of the day in Blessing’s room.

“There are big paws to fill,” Blessing said. “We did lose Rudy last March and it was very, very sudden, so the little ones here think he retired.”

Losing Rudy was hard for the teachers as well, but they learned the importance of a school therapy dog.

“It’s amazing what an animal can do,” Blessing said.

More school programs

Sciacca described other programs at the school, including an attendance initiative where families can win gift cards to the store of their choice, such as Dillons or Walmart.

The school has an active Site Council for the first time in three or four years and 32 parents signed up for the booster club. Instructional Coach Lacey Hofflinger has started a challenge called Rocket Math as well as a reading contest where the prizes are books. There is a school garden and Park is planning to have a family Long’s Pumpkin Patch Night.

Now that the schools are again open to visitors, JAG (Jobs for America's Graduates) students from Great Bend High School and the Barton Community College basketball team are coming to visit with the Park students.

“The next big thing we really wanted to work on was high expectations,” Sciacca said. COVID-19 had a negative effect there as well. “But we really want our kids to believe that they need to be respectful, that they need to say please and thank you, and they need to expect that they can do very well in the classroom.”

Park gives out weekly Roars Awards to the student that shows respectful, outstanding leadership, academic success, responsibility and safety throughout the week.