G.H. Reid Elementary School hosted a welcome back cheer-on for students arriving for the first day of school on Monday morning.

Around nine buses carrying students from nearby neighborhoods arrived in the bus loop and were met with enthusiastic school faculty, administrators and public officials. Once each group of students hopped off the bus, they walked on the pathway to the entrance stepping on the pavement with colorful chalk writing that read, “We Love You Here!,” “Reid Ravens” and “You Got This.”

Students walked to their classes, some tired due to the early hour, while others showed excitement. They were greeted by Principal Chantrese Rainey-Clayton and other school staff with hugs, high-five, and fist bumps. 

The majority of students carried clear backpacks — some nearly as large as the students themselves — filled with notebooks and pencil cases. The school division implemented a new backpack policy on July 1 to enhance safety measures. This decision followed incidents last year when two students, one from Maymont Preschool and another from Oak Grove-Bellemeade Elementary, brought loaded guns to school.

“We’ve missed our kiddos,” said Rainey-Clayton. “The summer was short, but fast. I’m super excited to welcome them back in and give them the education they deserve.”

Approximately 20,000 Richmond Public Schools students headed into the academic year at five preschools, 21 elementary schools, seven middle schools and eight high schools. Four elementary schools started the school year on July 22 as part of RPS’ 200-day program.

The first day of school also gave G.H. Reid Elementary and RPS a chance to address classroom overcrowding.

“That is not unusual here on the South Side,” Richmond Public Schools Superintendent Jason Kramas said in a press conference. “One of the things that we’ll be highlighting is to increase capacity here where we are growing by leaps and bounds.”

The elementary school has over 650 students enrolled, with 38 full-time teachers and one full-time school counselor.

Rainey-Clayton said she has not seen any adverse effects of the over-crowdedness on students’ learning and behaviors.

“We’re just making sure that teachers are supported because they do have larger class sizes,” she explained. “We did receive a modular, which has eight additional classrooms, so we’re just waiting for that to be officially put together so we can transition some of our classes out there.”

According to the U.S. News and World Report, G.H. Reid Elementary has a Latino student population of 58.2% Rainey-Clayton explained the challenges of teaching non-English speakers.

“We sometimes have a lot of students that don’t speak any English,” she said. “But, to overcome that, we make sure we … modify the lessons in a way that allows every student to access a curriculum.”

This year’s school theme for G.H. Reid Elementary is, “Raising the Bar.” Rainey-Clayton explained in a press conference the school is raising expectations for student achievement, as they saw a 10% increase in literacy rates and a decrease in absenteeism last school year.

“We have really great kids here,” she said. “I think students appreciate coming to school, like they view it as an opportunity.”