Starting next school year in Paso Robles, Georgia Brown Elementary School’s Dual Immersion program is moving to Lewis Middle School and Lewis Middle School students are moving to Flamson.
On Monday evening, Flamson and Lewis Middle Schools opened their doors to next year’s class of students and parents.
Visitors could attend a presentation and tour the campuses to get a feel for the upcoming school year.
"I feel excited and a little nervous," said Corban MacKinnon, Georgia Brown 4th grader.
"Yeah, excited and nervous at the same time," agreed John Arevalo, Georgia Brown 4th grader.
Georgia Brown 5th grader Aaron Trevino Vela said the event helped him feel better prepared to attend school at Lewis next year.
“I thought that it would be too far and that it would be bad, but now that I’m looking at it, it feels better," he said.
Aaron’s friend and classmate, Thaddeus Conrad, originally wasn’t excited about the move but has since come around.
“At first, I didn’t really like it, but we have a lot of room now!” he exclaimed.
Thaddeus is also excited about the elective and sports offerings Lewis offers. However, he said he’ll miss Georgia Brown.
“I’m gonna miss knowing the campus and knowing some of the teachers. Now they’ll be in different classes, so I’ll have to figure out where they are,” he said.
Corban's dad, Mark MacKinnon, views the move to Lewis as beneficial for the kids.
“It’s a positive change,” MacKinnon said. “They'll be able to offer, you know, additional curriculum through the [dual immersion] program, have additional space here, more sports programs as well. So overall, I think it's going to be a very positive impact on the community.”
It will also allow the district’s dual immersion program to grow.
MacKinnon said his own children participated in the program.
“We watched the kids that seemed to achieve the most or excel the most were going through the Georgia Brown program… and the program's been fantastic. It really has,” he said.
