Elementary Principal, Brandi Meacham, said the idea of the outside open house came following the shutdown.

“The Pine Valley leadership team still wanted the school and community to feel connected after the COVID-19 shutdown,” Meacham said. “Our team worked very hard to have a reopening plan that brought students back to school, supported family needs, and kept everyone safe. Once we were successful with that effort, we started to brainstorm ways to keep our yearly Open House plan alive. We realized if we utilized the nice weather of the fall and set up tables outside, we could allow our families to meet our teachers and staff while minimizing any health risks.”

Since the first year of being reopened after the pandemic, the school has held the open house outside and Meacham said even with new administration it has continued on. Staff members have added new themes and activities every year.

“We have expanded the event by adding the Frosted Hog ice cream truck this year to the dedicated JJ’s BBQ food truck that has worked with us since year one,” Meacham said. “We have community partners that join us including Little Love Bugs daycare, our JCLC Parents as Teachers Liaison and Girl Scouts.”

Tables for all grades were included, starting with the preschool. Submitted photo

Tables for the Outside Open House were set between the two school buildings, with the school using the access road between them to keep parking available at both buildings and drawing attention to the idea of the school being one team and one district. Tables were set up and taken down by the Buildings and Grounds crew and everyone participated in creating welcoming tables that were spread out to allow for conversations to happen easier. Some tables included the ability to sign up for parent-teacher conferences, along with holding other information about classes, with the tech team providing music and reading interventionists making free popcorn throughout the event.

Other tables included the Transportation Team, under the name of “Nacho Average Transportation Team”, and their nacho booth. The cafeteria crew provided a fun fact dairy wheel with healthy snacks and the PPS team had a giant coping strategy wheel for families to try. The Physical Education team provided outdoor games.

“I can’t say enough about what the staff put together,” Meacham said. “Our Math Interventionists set up math challenges to play with students. High School Ag has 3-D models that could be rebuilt by students. The music department dressed for success and played music. Our Pine Valley team is thankful for all the thought and hard work that went into making this event so fun and successful. We were so happy to see how many families showed up and interacted with teachers and staff from every year their children were in school.”

Meacham added that parents who attended the September Parent Teacher Organization meeting on Sept 24 had high praise for the event, including that it felt like an awesome fair and had cool themes.

Junior/Senior High School Principal Kourtney Almeida, reported that the overall Outside Open House was a big success.

The Pine Valley Transportation Team provided a nacho booth under the name “Nacho Average Bus Drivers”. Submitted photo

“It was a huge success,” Almeida said. “The weather was beautiful. The atmosphere was electric and lots of smiles to go around. It was so nice to see our families and students enjoying one another and catching up.”

Almeida added that the event was well attended, and that the hope for the event was to bring the school community together in a warm and welcoming manner to welcome everyone to a new school year.

“As the Junior/Senior High School Principal, I love this event as I have the opportunity to not only connect with our families in the Junior/Senior High School but also our elementary families,” Almeida said.

Attendees were able to spin the wheel at the PPS table and talk about coping mechanisms. Submitted photo

Tables that were set outside for parents and families to visit included one by the school’s PPS team that had a giant wheel for coping mechanisms. Submitted photo

Pine Valley Central School held their annual Outside Open House in mid-September, which was reported to be a well-attended event. Submitted photo