Downtown, Edmunds Kick Off the 2014-15 School Year

Regan Davidson leads her 2nd and 3rd grade ELL students into the first day of classes at Edmunds Elementary School.

A year ago Edmunds Elementary was brand new and grand opening. Today marks the beginning of Year Two. The premises are broken in but still beautiful. The ceilings are sky high. The cafeteria this morning smelled of fresh bananas. The hallways are wide with shiny floors and lined with fresh faces.

Outdoors, rush hour traffic sped to and fro on the freeway beneath a royal blue sky with nothing in it but a rising sun and a full but fading moon. Around back a big box truck was delivering a load of supplies while parents delivered their children at the main entrance.

Inside, Regan Davidson’s got practically the whole world in her devoted, capable hands, to borrow from a timeless American standard.

She teaches the second and third graders in the Intensive English Language Center at Edmunds. There are 19 kids assigned to her classroom this year and they speak about a half dozen different languages. English isn’t yet among them. Last year she had 17 that spoke 12. She’s bilingual but her tongue is outnumbered so she has to do a lot of teaching in universal languages like reassuring smiles and open arms. Pictures are worth who knows how many words to her? And she love, love, loves her job!

Most of her class wasn’t at Edmunds last year. Many of them weren’t even in America. But they’re here now. They’ve come to a good place. They’re in good hands. It’s going to be a good year.

Photos for the First Day at Downtown, Edmunds