Gathered in a cafeteria with campus pride in mind, past and present students, teachers and administrators of Great Oaks Elementary School came together to mark a milestone for the campus.
This year the campus celebrates its 20 year anniversary of educating students from Round Rock ISD. To mark the moment in history, the campus held a celebration for the Great Oaks community. During the ceremony, students representing each grade level spoke about what Great Oaks means to them.
They also had the chance to hear from past students, teachers and administrators about their experience at the campus. Great Oaks first-grade teacher Kathy Day recalled being a teacher when the campus opened and what that has meant to her.
“I’ve been a teacher for 28 years and 20 of them have been at Great Oaks,” Day said. “Opening Great Oaks was very exciting. As a faculty we took time to build friendships and bond as a community. Many of these strong bonds continue to the present.”
During the ceremony, longtime friends were given the chance to be reunited as many former and present educators came together to celebrate the campus.
“It was so wonderful to see so many former faculty members at our 20th anniversary reunion,” Day said. “Time had not altered our feelings for each other.”
Opened in 1996, the campus has established a tradition for academic excellence. During those 20 years, the campus has grown to current enrollment of 647. Changes have occurred to not only the campus, but to the way students and teachers engage in learning. Great Oaks teacher Beth Stockham said that the campus always finds a way to succeed.
“We have had four principals, eight assistant principals, two librarians and several teacher and counselor changes,” Stockham said. “Yet, we always seem to make the Great Oaks community a positive and caring family.”
Great Oaks is located at 16455 Great Oaks Drive in Round Rock.
