Mellville Elementary Prepares to Welcome Former Elmhurst and Hathaway Students

As autumn approaches, leaves will fall off trees, students will step on buses, bells will ring and teachers will teach. These are the inevitabilities of a school year, the certainties of the changing seasons.

Yet, in the next week or two, an elm tree with be planted on the grounds of Melville Elementary School. This elm will symbolize one of many changes for the school—the joining of students from the former Elmhurst Elementary School.

As principal of Melville Elementary School for the past 15 years, Dr. Joanne Olson will lead the school through a year of new changes.

Due to the closing of Elmhurst Elementary School, the schools had to undergo a re-organization. Melville will now house only kindergarten through grade 3. Students from Hathaway Elementary School and the former Elmhurst Elementary School will join Melville. Fourth and fifth grade students will now attend Portsmouth Middle School.

While the school will have about the same number of students, Olson says around 50 percent of them will be new to the school.

 "Only about half of the kids have been in the building before," Olson said.

A change in the age of the student body and the elimination of programs can both be partially attributed to budget concerns.

Instead of having art and music once a week, this year students will have half the year with art and half the year with music. Olson says it is an unfortunate change caused by budget restraints.

"We do the best we can with what we've got, and that's that, " Olson said.

Olson began her career in education in Duval County, FL, followed by Orange County, FL. After completing her doctorate at the University of Central Florida, she began working as a school administrator. Before coming to Melville, she spent eight years as a principal in Coventry. 

As Olson explained  her history as an educator,  she reflected on the length of time she has been in the field. She explained that just the other day she was walking down the hallway of Melville, where in her first year as principal, students had painted fish tiles.

"A mother said to her child 'See Mommy's tile,'" Olson said. "… I started thinking about my first kindergarten class in 1974-1975—those people are 42 now."

Olson says she is looking forward to another year.  She said she could not imagine herself in a higher-up position where she didn't interact with students everyday.

"You never get past the little smiling faces," Olson said. "They are the joy of the job."

This year, school will start at 8:45 a.m. and end at 3:15 p.m. Olson suggests students be dropped off at 8:30 a.m. and picked up no later than 3:30 p.m.

There will also be a number of changes in bus stops, information that will be available in the coming days.

Families are encouraged to connect with the ListServ to receive the latest news, as well as bi-weekly newsletters from Dr. Olson. The ListServ is the primary method of communication between the school administration and families. To learn how to sign up, contact the school's main office. 

School starts Sept. 1. A welcome parent's meeting will be held at 7 p.m. on  Sept. 7. A welcome tea will be held at 9 a.m. on Sept. 8.