By Wesley C. 

Elementary school is the beginning of growing up and it has changed a lot over the past 500 years. To understand how elementary school is important we need to go back to the year 1647, where in New England, schools were focused mainly on religion and writing. Throughout the 1700s up until the 1900s, people were mainly taught in small school houses. In the 20th century school became more common and eventually in 1918 every state made it mandatory to go to school. In the late 1960s a clear split snapped elementary and middle school. Kids were now separated by kindergarten through 6th, 7th through 9th, and 10th through 12th.

In 1979, when then President Jimmy Carter founded the Department of Education to ensure children had equal access to quality education, 86% of all kids (in the US) were enrolled in school. Today 96% of kids in the US are in school. Elementary school is where kids learn and make new friends which is important for later in life.

When kids first walk into elementary school, they might be very excited to make new friends and to meet their teacher. They don’t know exactly what they are going to be doing there for the next six years of their life. All they know is that school will be fun. When kids go into kindergarten they might have little or no nap time, but a few months later naptime will be gone for good. Kindergarten is a gentle bridge into school from preschool, because kids still play a lot. In kindergarten some kids might have stick fights, build fairy houses, and play pretend war. In kindergarten, kids rarely disagree. The only real disagreements are often between the boys and the girls. Most kids love kindergarten as I did.

First grade might be a wake up call to what school really is. This is the beginning of real school. Kids are expected to, gulp, work! No more building blocks and not as much playing. Second grade is pretty similar. Kids start learning multiplication. One thing that was different about my second grade experience was the pandemic. COVID-19 canceled all in-person school for the rest of the school year. According to research, kids lost around half a grade in math and a quarter of a grade in writing, with some even losing two full grades of learning.

For the rest of second grade and all of third grade most kids my age had to have virtual school. For seven hours we sat in front of our computers, listening to our teachers. It got boring, very boring. Kids frequently got off task. Some even played Minecraft during class. I was lucky. Many of my friends say that they can’t remember much or any of what they learned in third grade. Thanks to my teacher I remember most of it. In 2021, everyone returned to in-person school. According to research, as much as 65% of kids were excited to return to in-person school after COVID-19.

Fifth grade, the final year of elementary school. Kids are nervous about middle school. Well buckle up because it’s right around the corner. In fifth grade, your school may have a bullying problem, which almost 20% of kids in fifth grade say they have. Then graduation day comes around. Mine was… different. I got up, got dressed, and came downstairs as one might do, to find my graduation was canceled. Earlier that week, there had been a shooting at a high school graduation. Elementary school was over early.

Elementary school can be great. Around 50% of kids say they would go back to elementary school. I remember many more happy things than sad. I hope that I can say the same for middle school and for all school to come. I’m going to give elementary school a 4.5/5 stars, despite some bad things, including a pandemic. A lot of good memories come from elementary school, and I think elementary school is crucial to how a kid grows and learns.