Beachside's new nest: School hosts open house at its state-of-the-art campus

Students and their families flocked to Beachside Elementary to attend the first open house at the new campus on Thursday, Jan. 26.

By Michele Meyers
| 12:00 p.m. January 31, 2023

Parents and students lined up in front of Beachside Elementary waiting to enter for the first open house. Photo by Michele Meyers

Beachside Elementary opened to students on January 3 after the winter break. Photo by Michele Meyers

Parents and students line-up in front of Beachside Elementary to attend the schools first open house. Photo by Michele Meyers

Parents and students lined up in front of Beachside Elementary waiting to enter for the first open house. Photo by Michele Meyers

Parents and Beachside Elementary students sign-in at the welcome table at the school's first open house. Photo by Michele Meyers

First grade twins, Noah and Joseph Mendez, enjoy the media center at Beachside Elementary School's open house. Photo by Michele Meyers

Beachside Elementary School's media center carries a variety pf books. Photo by Michele Meyers

Noah Collins relaxes in Beachside Elementary's media center during the school's first open house. Photo by Michele Meyers

Teacher on Assignment Kimberly Schandel (left) helps families find their way during the first open house at Beachside Elementary. Photo by Michele Meyers

Teacher on Assignment Kimberly Schandel (right) explains Beachside Elementary's layout to Charles Shepard during their first open house. Photo by Michele Meyers

ESE Support Facilitator Heath Barrow helps families explore the newly opened Beachside Elementary at the first open house. His favorite space at the school is the art room. Photo by Michele Meyers

Beachside Elementary kindergartner Tythan Shepard opens the door to go outside during the school's open house. Photo by Michele Meyers

Kindergartner Tythan Shepard 's favorite part of Beachside Elementary is the outside play area. Photo by Michele Meyers

Alexis Thibault and mom Laura Thibault hang out in Beachside Elementary school's courtyard. Photo by Michele Meyers

Alexis Thibault plays during Beachside's open house where her brother Emry Cihlar goes to fifth grade. Photo by Michele Meyers

Alexis Thibault has had it with Beachside Elementary's open house. Photo by Michele Meyers

Tutor Charla Johnson stamps the students Beachside elementary game sheets in the extended learning lab. Photo by Michele Meyers

Cecilia, Casey, Ellen and Rhys Ferguson. Cecilia's favorite is reading and loves her classroom with Miss Gilbert. Photo by Michele Meyers

Cecilia, Casey, Ellen and Rhys Ferguson. First grader Rhys is in Miss Stoner's class. Photo by Michele Meyers

Twin brothers Rafael Echols and Raul Echols get their stamps in the extended learning lab. Rafael's favorite at Beachside is the art room while Raul's is the music room. Photo by Michele Meyers

Beachside Elementary art teacher and Teacher of the Year Kelsi Quicksall-Jones. Photo by Michele Meyers

Beachside Elementary art teacher Kelsi Quicksall-Jones shows her students ceramic pieces during the school's first open house. Photo by Michele Meyers

Beachside Elementary music teacher Sarah Johns is going on her 22nd year of teaching. She is excited that her room is equipped with new technology and the classroom is located close to the stage. Photo by Michele Meyers

Ormond Beach Observer
Neighbors

As the sun set on the beach-themed exterior of the newly-opened Beachside Elementary school, students and their families lined up on the sidewalk to attend the first open house held on Thursday, Jan. 26.

The school opened to students on Jan. 3 following their winter break. The student body, formed from the Osceola and Ortona Elementary merger, had been attending school at the former Osceola Elementary campus while the new facility was being built at the old Ortona site in Daytona Beach.

Ormond Beach native and resident Stephanie Mendez, who recently bought her childhood home from her parents, attended Osceola as a child. Her sons, Noah and Joseph Mendez, followed in her footsteps and started school at Osceola Elementary in 2021 during its transition to Beachside.

Mendez thought it was an exceptional experience when the students from both schools were brought together at Osceola.

“It was exciting just having all the different kids from both sides of the city come together,” she said. “It wasn’t too crazy because the teachers and all the administrators, did such an amazing job to have the flow be perfect. I don’t know how they did it but they did it. It worked amazingly.”

“This is the most beautiful school I’ve been at. It’s beautiful. They need to replicate this everywhere.”

KIMBERLY SCHANDEL, Teacher on Assignment at Beachside Elementary

Families were given a “Welcome to Beachside’s new nest” sheet, which students could get stamped as they explored their classrooms, the media center, the extended learning labs, art room, music room and the cafeteria where they picked up a prize if their sheet was completed.

Moving to the new Beachside campus was like night and day for parents Brian and Ariel Collins. For them, the space was much brighter, clean and safe. Their son Noah Collins was excited about the playground, especially since Osceola's campus did not have one. He summed it up with one word.

“Amazing,” the first grader said.

Directing traffic in the hallways were teachers Heath Barrow and Kimberly Schandel. Barrow is a support facilitator at Beachside who works with ESE and special needs students. He helps students in kindergarten through fifth grade — wherever teachers express there is a need. The favorite aspect for him about working at Beachside is the people he interacts with on a daily basis.

“Because I’m in and out with different teachers and other ESE, daily I probably make contact or touch six or seven or eight other adults,” he said. “I’ve got a good group of teachers I work with and peers that are doing the same thing.”

Beachside Elementary Lynn Bruner. Photo by Jarleene Almenas

A mid-year move

When the Beachside students first walked into their new campus, Principal Lynn Bruner recalled their quiet awe.

"As we walked in all the classrooms, you could have heard a pin drop," she said. "They were just like 'wow.'"

It took a lot of effort by teachers and staff to get the school ready for that first day back after their winter break.

Moving to their new campus midyear was a challenge, but Bruner said it was made possible through teamwork and a lot of communication. No one likes to move, even though they may like where they are moving to, she added.

"You feel like the boxes grow like spaghetti on a plate," Bruner said. "Despite that big task, everyone rallied and did the work. Teachers just helped each other and support staff helped."

Saying goodbye to the campus was bittersweet for some. One of the teachers had taught kindergarten in the same room at the Osceola campus for 30 years, Bruner said.

But since moving in, though they are still waiting on a few things like opening their new playground and smoothening out some sod, Bruner said the school's opening has gone well.

"We are chasing 100% every day and our goal every day is that every student wakes up and wants to come to Beachside," Bruner said.

— Jarleene Almenas, senior editor

Schandel has been a Teacher on Assignment at Beachside since December 2022 and teaching in Volusia County for 18 years. She works closely with the administration to provide support for teachers, students and parents as she learns to be an assistant principal or administrator.

Beachside is a two-story building where kindergarten through second grades are on the first floor and third through firth grades occupy the second. Both floors have an extended learning lab. Charla Johnson was hired as a full-time tutor and manned the lab at the open house. She attended Osceola, Seabreeze junior and senior high schools.

“I’m hired as a full-time tutor,” she said. “It’s driven by the classroom teacher. They tell us what the kids need. It can be higher level kids or lower level kids. The kids have been just amazing during this transition. They have been so excited.”

Undeniable favorites of the night were the art and music rooms where art teacher Kelsi Quicksall-Jones and music teacher Sarah Johns instruct their students. Quicksall-Jones designed Beachside’s mascot and was the school's Teacher of the Year. She feels fortunate to have the new space, which includes a kiln room and a wet cabinet to put the clay in along with her students’ projects.

“It’s overwhelming,” she said. “I don’t know what to do first. I had my room all painted at the old school and it was so homey. I now I have this big space and these really tall ceilings. I feel like I want to get up there and paint already but I know I’m going to be here a long time and I can take my time.”