Parents, students adjusting to new elementary campus closer to home

It has been about six months since Rivera Elementary School on Buena Vista Drive first opened its doors to families in the area, and despite initial doubt from some, the school, officials say, is on its way to building its own culture and character.

On Monday, Rivera Elementary, adjacent to Rivera Middle School, opened its new office space, which houses administrative staff for both schools. There still is some landscaping and moving to be done, but officials hope to have everything squared away come spring.

“We’re two separate schools, on different schedules, but we’re all part of the same family,” said Catherine Puckett, principal at Rivera Elementary.

Two years ago, the Merced City School District voted to build an elementary school on site with the existing middle school. Prior to Rivera, there were no elementary schools in the northwest portion of Merced near R Street, and students who lived in the Fahren’s Park area had to be bused elsewhere.

For many parents, a school closer to home has saved them time. Iris Higareda of Merced has two children who attend the elementary school and one child at the middle school. Being able to pick up all three children at one site is extremely convenient, she said.

Her children previously were enrolled at Joe Stefani on Ranchero Lane, and had to take the school bus.

“Now they can walk to school because it’s so much closer,” Higareda said. “I can pick them up.”

Some parents were initially hesitant about the change. Brandi Parker has two children at Rivera Elementary. Her first-grader attended John Muir Elementary on 26th Street last year. Parker said that initially, she wasn’t sure the change would be a good idea. A shared campus with students from a wide range of ages, kindergartens to eighth-graders, seemed overwhelming, she said.

“I was worried,” Parker said. “I felt like there would be so many kids on one campus.

“But it doesn’t seem that way at all,” she said.

There currently are about 600 students on each Rivera campus.

With Rivera Elementary, the Merced City School District now has 14 K-6 elementary schools. There are four middle schools (seventh and eighth grades) in the district. In 2014, the district decided to redevelop its schools by moving sixth-graders from middle schools to elementary schools to alleviate overcrowding.

Puckett explained that having the K-6 elementary right next door to the seventh- and eighth-grade middle school has allowed for collaboration. Some students in the upper grade levels have chosen to be mentors across the gate that separates the schools and join younger students for peer tutoring, reading sessions and occasional physical education instruction, Puckett said.

“The best part about it is these kids have ownership of the school now,” Puckett said. “We have a culture and climate that is extremely positive.”

School administrators are working on stocking up the bookshelves of the elementary’s new library, as well as building a new flagpole. A ribbon cutting ceremony is planned for May.

This story was originally published January 25, 2016 at 6:08 PM with the headline "Parents, students adjusting to new elementary campus closer to home."