‘I’m just excited to get to meet them’: Lava Ridge Elementary teachers, staff prepare for students’ return next week

(Update: Adding video, comments from teacher, staff)

BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) -- Labor Day weekend is at hand, and of course, that means school is right around the corner for thousands of High Desert students. At Bend-La Pine Schools like Lava Ridge Elementary, teachers and staff are already in the classroom, getting a start on preparations before the students file back in from summer break.

"Lava Ridge is a warm place," Malissa Fields, an inclusion educational assistant said Friday. "It's very welcoming. We establish routines pretty quickly and make sure kids feel safe and comfortable."

At Lava Ridge, teachers and staff are getting ready for for the upcoming school year, with more than 400 students enrolled.

Kindergarten teacher Tracy Mauze said," I'm just excited to get to meet them and have them become part of this classroom community. It's always really neat to see how, as you get to know each other and know everyone's unique personalities."

For kindergartners,  half the students begin Wednesday and the other half come Thursday, so the first day when all attend together is Friday.

Fields said she helps students establish routines, assisting on the playground and in the classroom 

"Starting out as kindergartners, by the time they're in fifth grade, they've made all this progress with their reading and writing their math skills," she said. "It's fun to see how prepared they are for middle school."

Mauze has been a teacher for 20 years. She's also taught second, third and fourth grades.

To prepare for her students this year, she decorated bulletin boards, gotten the desks ready with name tags and put together caddies with supplies.

"Another thing that I work on is getting my library ready," she said. "Having the theme boxes with the pictures on them, so kiddos know what different kind of books to look for. And then, of course, theme books that go along with kindergarten are always fun."

Elementary school students will start school at 7: 45 a.m. and end at 2:15 p.m. There is no early release their first week.  That will begin on the second Wednesday.