Indian Trace Elementary School is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year. As exciting as that is, what’s even more meaningful is the fact that the school is now serving its second generation of students. Many former students are now raising their very own “Tracers”, and a few parents have been lucky enough to reconnect with their elementary school teachers.
PTA Vice President Melissa Scher says it is comforting to know her daughter is going to the same school she once attended. “Watching my daughter grow and learn in a place that holds so many incredible childhood memories for me is a feeling hard to describe. Simply put, it feels like coming home. Indian Trace Elementary is so much more than a school, it’s a family and I just feel so blessed that we get to be a part of it.”
Heather Becker, another former Tracer, wholeheartedly agrees. “It is truly an amazing feeling bringing my son to the same school that I went to as a child. Walking through the halls is like taking a stroll down memory lane and I could not be happier.”
As a former Indian Trace student, Marcy Prieto Sanchez says Linda Saver’s music class had a profound effect on her – so much so that she went on to study music and become a music teacher herself. Marcy says she is grateful that her two sons now get to experience Mrs. Saver’s music class.
Mrs. Saver is one of the four original teachers still teaching at Indian Trace Elementary. The others are kindergarten teacher Vanessa Thomas and third grade teachers Patty De Biase and Marcia Coffey. Fifth grade teacher Janet Doren retired this summer.
Coach Mark Logsdon joined the school the year after the building opened. He says he loves reconnecting with former students and seeing similarities and differences in parent and child. “In one particular case, where I have both a brother and sister from a former student, the daughter is exactly how I remember the mom and the brother is the total opposite.”
In the case of Mrs. De Biase, not only did her own children attend Indian Trace, this year her granddaughter will be starting at the school. “When my daughter took Aiden to the kindergarten round-up, she cried when she saw some of her former teachers. She said it brought up wonderful memories and she knows her daughter will be in good hands.”
Mrs. De Biase jokes that for her family, Indian Trace Elementary is truly a family affair. Her daughter-in-law, Kristin De Biase, is a second grade teacher.