Fruitport holds open house prior to start of school
Thu, Aug 28, 2008 
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BY SYLVIA DANA
sdana@grandhaventribune
FRUITPORT — School starts on Tuesday, but third-grader Paige Stanley has already inspected her new desk — the same spot her older brother Alec sat in when he was a third-grader in teacher Katie Danicek's classroom at Edgewood Elementary School.
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"My brother used to say it was his favorite class, so I couldn't wait to get to third grade," Stanley said.
Stanley and other Fruitport Community Schools students met their new teachers and visited their classrooms at the district's open house on Wednesday.
Taking place before the first day of school, Fruitport's open house is a districtwide event.
"It's an opportunity for our parents to come into the schools and have students walk to their classes to get familiar with their surroundings before the first day of school," Fruitport Superintendent Nick Ceglarek said. "It's also an opportunity for teachers to make a first contact with parents, which is really beneficial. We're always wanting to get more parents involved and trying to find more ways to do that."
Although Fruitport's elementary schools have hosted the "Meet, Greet & Find Your Seat" event for a handful of years, the secondary schools are still green when hosting an open house before school starts.
"We tried this last year and we really liked it," said high school math teacher Sally Kempker, who has taught in the Fruitport schools for 40 years.
Kempker got a chance to meet and explain the new math textbooks and how they will be used in her class to one of her new advanced algebra students, 11th-grader Felicia Lynn, and Felicia's mother, Marva Lynn, who said she appreciates the open-house event.
"I think this is the third or fourth open house like this I've been to," Lynn said. "I really like it. The teachers are on it and they know what they are doing."
"In the past, we had an open house three or four weeks into the school year," Ceglarek said. "What we found out is that often times parents wanted to talk specifics about their students' grades or recent tests, and that's not the format."
Instead, by having an open house prior to school starting, teachers can freely make initial connections with parents and students, introduce the course work and expectations, and offer a little hospitality, he said.
"We really want to make parents feel welcome, keeping the lines of communication open — that's what's going to help kids be successful," said Lauren Chesney, the assistant principal at Fruitport High School.
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Fruitport's open-house attendance, especially at the elementary level, is historically about 90 percent, Ceglarek said.
"It makes the first day better," said Sheila Romberger, Edgewood Elementary School secretary. "Students are more at ease because they've already met their teacher, know where their desk is ... and lockers are."
Yes, even elementary students get lockers at Edgewood — thanks to PTO fundraising, Romberger said.
Some freshmen at Wednesday's open house said they were a little nervous about coming to high school.
"I just don't want to grow up," said ninth-grader Erika Rutz.
Parent Michelle Salois, who now has a child in high school for the first time, shares the sentiment: "I feel like I'm getting old."
On the other hand, some students look forward to growing up.
"I'll be in the oldest grade in the school," said fifth-grader Sonya Gring, who has attended Fruitport schools since kindergarten.
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