No masks, no social distancing. Spring Creek welcomes students back for a ‘normal’ school year

At 7:55 a.m. Tuesday, about 370 students flooded into Spring Creek Elementary for their first day of the new school year. Teachers and administrators stood outside the building as students said their goodbyes, posed for first-day photos and met with friends.

At the start of the last school year, face masks were required and other COVID-19 restrictions were in place. For the 2020-21 school year, remote learning was still part of students’ lives.

But this year, students and parents were excited about school days going back to normal. The district’s updated health and safety plan does not enforce social distancing or mandatory masking, making group activities, cafeteria lunches and social interactions more accessible this year.

Parents Rebecca Sherry and Josh Daly said they would not have re-enrolled their first grade daughter Evey if masking had been enforced. Daly and Sherry are looking forward to the social aspects Evey will experience this year.

“I think she’s excited to go to the cafeteria,” Daly said. “In kindergarten they’d eat lunch in a classroom, so this year she’ll sit in the cafeteria.”

The first-day feeling didn’t only apply to students but also to the school’s new principal. Paul Brigman was formerly an assistant principal at Park Forest Middle School and a counselor at State High for eight years before stepping into the role of principal this year.

“It’s funny because it is my first day too,” he said. “So it’s not like ‘oh, this is what a first day typically looks like.’ I’m also experiencing it in real-time for the first time.”

Brigman worked his way around the building once classes started, introducing himself to students with promises of attending class parties and story times. The State High graduate is now working alongside some of his former teachers in the district.

“I really feel like it’s kind of come full circle,” Brigman said. “I have an opportunity to give back to the families and community and hopefully provide them with the same positive experiences and education that I received. I just love this community.”

Susan Young, the president of the school’s parent teacher organization and mother to a fourth grader at Spring Creek, said it’s not just the first day of school that creates a special environment for students.

“I’m really so excited because we have a phenomenal staff,” Young said. “All of our teachers and staff are amazing. So it’s nice when you feel comfortable dropping your child off at a place where I feel that she’s safe emotionally, physically, socially.”

Philipsburg-Osceola School District begins classes Wednesday. Bald Eagle, Bellefonte and Penns Valley area school districts start on Aug. 30.