Our New Normal, Volume XX

Check out what’s going on inside the yet-again repurposed area at the south end of Nunnally Hall dubbed JK Village. It’s not just new. It’s improved. Best of all, it’s home.

Welcome to yet another installment of the Our New Normal series, which takes a look at changes around the Collegiate campus, many of which are Covid protocol-related, during the past year-and-a-half.

A couple of days after grade-level chair Rives Barksdale conducted a tour of the friendly outside spaces populated by the 70 four- and five-year-olds in the school’s junior kindergarten, Tia Owen, who joined the JK faculty at the program’s inception seven years ago, proudly showed me around the renovated area which houses four (Sycamores, Magnolias, Birches, and Maples) of the five classes and features a large commons area in the middle.

The fifth class (Dogwoods) resides in the Watt Library and Technology Building just a few steps away. Until this year, three classes operated in Luck Hall (on two different floors), one in Nunnally, and the other in Watt.

“What you’re looking at is the JK Village,” Tia said, referencing the brightly lit, open, inviting, aesthetically pleasing facility with a compass-like design in the center. “This part used to be Cougar Care which then became the third JK classroom. The first year when JK was developed, it was supposed to be two classes, but we had so much interest that we needed a third space. We used one side, and the other side was Cougar Quest for the younger students. 

“The idea for this space post-covid is that we can gather as an entire grade level and have a speaker or a story or just gather as a group. And it’s nice to have the team together. Last year, we were completely spread out all over the Lower School.”

What’s the new normal other than the facilities? I asked. 

“It’s been really nice to get to know all the students,” Tia responded. “When we were three classes, we could get to know all the students, but with five sections, it’s a big group, so by having all of us in one space, we’re back to our normal of knowing all of the students. Each of the teachers can say ‘Good morning’ and greet every child by name, even with the masks, which is incredible.

“It’s so nice to have neighbors. As a team, we’re able to share teaching ideas and strategies and materials in a more casual way and help one another more easily because we’re all here together rather than sending an email or a text or walking across the Lower School. It’s been a great experience for our entire team. It’s such a treat after so many years of being separated.”

Seems like that’s a hidden gem: being in proximity so you can put your heads together and pool your knowledge and wisdom more easily, I offered.
 

“There’s this whole sense of community, not only the teachers but with the children,” she said. “That’s one of the great things about Collegiate: community. 

“Last year because of Covid, they only knew their own classmates because we were never allowed to interact with one another. Now, it’s ‘I know that friend.’ ‘That friend’s a Maple.’ ‘That friend’s a Dogwood.’ ‘That friend’s a Magnolia.’ They’re playing together on The Meadow and the playground. They know each other as a whole JK, which is really amazing, especially moving forward when they disperse to different classrooms, whether it’s kindergarten or all the way up until they’re seniors. They’re still going to remember, ‘Oh, I was in JK. There were all of us together.’ They’ll also still remember their tree names.” 

What do you find most enjoyable about being a JK teacher? I asked.

“I could chat about JK all day,” Tia said. “It’s truly my happy place. I love watching our kiddos work through challenges, become independent, and grow socially and emotionally as well as develop a love of learning. We have three main overarching themes of inquiry for the year: the first trimester is The Story of Me. The second will be Fairy Tales. The third will be the Story of Nature Around Us. JK is an amazing year of growth and exploration.”
   ~Weldon Bradshaw