In Beaverton, it’s the first day of school for teachers, too

Deanna Berning’s Beaverton classroom has lots of places to sit: tall chairs, short chairs, cushions on the floor, a carpet, chairs that wobble, chairs that stay still.

As she welcomes 27 second graders to another year of school at Scholls Heights Elementary, her goal is to create a classroom where kids can be comfortable.

“I want it to feel like a place where you want to go, I want it to be inviting, and warm, and welcoming, and cute, and a good place to hang out,” Berning said.

There’s a lot going on in the education world these days, between budget cuts, declining enrollment, and an uncertain future at the U.S. Department of Education. But despite all that, another year is underway in two of Oregon’s largest school districts. Thousands more Oregon students start school after Labor Day.

The day before the first day of school at Scholls Heights started with school supply drop off, a newer tradition in Beaverton. It allows families to show up in an informal setting, so anxious students can get some helpful reassurance before the school year starts.

“They get to meet their teacher, which is really good,” Berning said. “It kind of helps with that, ‘first day of school, scary, where’s my classroom, who’s my teacher?’”

In addition to individual notebooks and headphones, families bring reams of copy paper and boxes of tissues for the whole classroom.

“Our building budget isn’t large enough to cover that for the whole year, plus second graders love to draw and color, so I have blank paper out all the time for them to do that.”

This is Berning’s 34th year in the classroom, but her first day enthusiasm has not waned.

“I feel excited, I feel hopeful,” Berning said of the year to come. “I feel sweaty because it’s hot in here.”

New year, new challenges

Berning has more students in her class this year, which she says will be a challenge.

“Because this is one of the small classrooms, I really have to be creative and mindful about where things go because I don’t want to feel crowded,” she said.

Like many school districts, Beaverton has had to make tough decisions to balance the budget over the last several years. Often, school administrators end up limiting faculty positions, which can have the effect of driving up class size.

“Having a large class is tricky just because there is just inherently more work when there are more children in your class, more report cards to do, more conferences to do.”

To help mitigate Beaverton’s funding challenges, Scholls Heights has a parent organization that raises funds to help the school. But at the same time, Berning says the things that make her classroom welcoming come out of her paycheck.

“All the cuteness that you see in here, the district doesn’t provide that,” she said.

Berning says the classroom environment sets a foundation for a positive classroom community, where eight- and nine-year-olds can learn what’s important.

“We’re gonna do some math and we’re gonna read and we’re gonna do science projects and you’re gonna write, but the most important thing to me when you leave second grade is that you are an awesome human who knows how to be kind to other humans,” Berning said.

Being an educator these days doesn’t mean the same thing as it did when Berning first started. In addition to key literacy and math skills, she teaches her students how to regulate their emotions and deal with conflict.

The education system itself has changed a lot, too. In just the last eight months, the federal government has threatened funding for school programs and enacted executive orders against equity and inclusion. Federal officials have also expressed interest in expanding voucher programs that could boost private schools at the expense of public education. Berning said she feels supported by Gov. Tina Kotek’s actions in support of public education in the state.

While Berning can’t control what’s going on in Washington, D.C., what she can control is how her students feel about second grade, about school and about their teacher.

Berning remembers a moment at the end of last school year, when she put together a slideshow with questions about herself for her students. One of them was, “What does your teacher love best about her job?”

Berning tears up remembering what the students scribbled out on their individual whiteboards.

“All 24 of them wrote down either ‘us,’ ‘her second grade friends,’ ‘me’... I was like, ‘Okay, my job here is done,” she said.

“I want them to leave here knowing they are loved and they’re important and they can do lots of wonderful things.”