This is Amanda Mendez’s fifth year in a row teaching first grade. Mendez currently teaches six- and seven-year-old superheroes at Cheltenham Elementary, but her first job in Denver was teaching at Fairview Elementary. Mendez was one of the many educators affected by the school closures in the spring of 2023.
When she heard the news that Fairview would be closing at the end of the school year and unified with a nearby school, Cheltenham Elementary, her first thought was about the Fairview community.
“My heart felt for the community. As a teacher, I had already been working with Cheltenham. We were sister schools…But as far as the community goes, it was heartbreaking for them. [Fairview] was their school. It was across the street from where they lived. They wanted to save it, so watching the parents fight for it was heartbreaking,” Mendez said.
Mendez identifies as an optimist, and after the initial weight of the closure set in, she became eager about the prospect of joining the welcoming school.
“I was very hopeful. I was hoping it would give the kids more opportunity. And I was hoping, for me, that it would give me less stress as a teacher.”
At Fairview, there was only one educator teaching each grade level. Fairview and Cheltenham staff would collaborate during weekly professional development opportunities, yet Mendez still felt like she was missing daily peer-level support.
“When you have those other teachers in your grade level, you can lean on them. They’re right outside your classroom door instead of in another building. For me, [the idea of unifying with Cheltenham] felt exciting. I would have the opportunity to be at a school where there’s other teachers in my grade level,” she said. “Since Fairview was so small, there was only one teacher per grade level. You didn’t have that other person teaching the same lesson as you, where you could say, ‘Hey wait. I didn’t understand this. What did you do in that moment?’ For me, it was exciting to be able to have that.”
Now, Mendez confidently says that the unification of the two schools was best for both her students and her career.
“I am a better teacher because of it, 100%. The doors to collaboration opened to me amongst grade levels. The resources that I have here are so much greater. I have two assistant principals I can talk to. I have a principal I can talk to. There are more senior team leads. If I need support, for anything, there is someone I can find to get it…The teacher I was two years ago to now is completely different.”
Mendez isn’t alone in feeling the positive effects of the school unification. The students at Cheltenham now get an hour of programs known as “specials” each day. At Cheltenham this year, students are taught dance, instrumental music, vocal music, art and PE.
“At Fairview, we only had PE and Art, and now at Cheltenham students have 6 different specials giving them more opportunity to explore their talents,” Mendez said. “Now the first thing they ask me in the morning is, ‘What special do we have today?’”
Mendez says that because Fairview and Cheltenham were collaborating prior to Fairview’s closure, it made the transition easier for staff. For her, learning the procedural process at the welcoming school was one of the biggest challenges.
"The cafeteria works differently. Recess works differently. Little things work differently. Learning the procedural part of the day was the hardest part," Mendez said.
Schools take different approaches to accomplish common goals, and Mendez emphasized that differences are not inherently bad.
"Things are different in different schools, but it doesn’t mean that it’s worse or awful. It’s just different, and different is okay sometimes. Sometimes we need different," she said.
Mendez shared her advice for parents or students who may be experiencing a similar situation and are feeling anxious.
“New opportunities can bring new chances for students to succeed. It’s okay to grieve what you’re losing, but you also have to look forward to what your child is gaining. It’s okay. I miss Fairview sometimes,” she said. “In the end, though, I think it was what was best for the kids.”