CLEVELAND — Thursday is the final day of classes for students in the Cleveland Metropolitan School District.
When classes resume next school year, the district will look and feel different with 29 fewer schools under the Building Brighter Futures initiative. The district said that having a smaller footprint will not only save the district money but also expand curriculum opportunities districtwide.
For weeks, the district has been hosting events to bring together students impacted by upcoming mergers.
On Wednesday, I was at one of the events that brought together students from longtime rivals. Collinwood High School, Home of the Railroaders, is merging into Glenville High School, Home of the Mighty Tarblooders.
Sarah Jones is closing out her junior year at Collinwood. She didn’t expect her high school to be closing for good.
“It’s a sad scenery for now, but we live on to be Railroaders… wherever we go out into the world,” Jones said.
I asked her what she’ll miss most.
“The friendships that I made,” Jones said. “Just a lot that went on. Growing up. Learning new things."
Kenda Holloway is the principal at Glenville High School. She spoke at the mixer event held in Glenville’s auditorium.
“We really, really want you to be here,” Holloway said. “We really do."
There was music, dancing, games in the cafeteria, a planned afternoon meal and real talk about the school’s operations, where peace, love and kindness are stressed each day.
I asked Holloway about her role leading the newly configured school.
“I have high expectations. I’m very positive about it. I’m not worried. I don’t feel any pressure,” Holloway said. “I just feel like it’s a job to do with educating more children from different neighborhoods and making sure they all come here and feel safe.”
She called it an honor to be in the position of creating a new culture, one that will honor both Collinwood and Glenville’s traditions.
Tymikia Garner is making the move to Glenville from Collinwood. The freshman came in with questions, but said the event at Glenville made her feel more confident about the future.
“First I was kind of scared because you know they be saying like bad things about Glenville— how it’s dangerous,” Garner said. “But being here and making a bond and connecting with all the other kids, I feel like everything’s going to go just fine. As long as we make it great. It’s going to be great.”
Another person rooting for success is Joel Tucker. He graduated from Collinwood in 1999 and is a part of the alumni association.
He showed me his yearbook where he was voted as the quietest, shortest and having the prettiest eyes in his class.
He said going to Collinwood High School was memorable for all the right reasons.
“It was a great experience. And like I said, I followed in my siblings' footsteps,” Tucker said.
His brother graduated in 1994. His sister graduated in 1996.
“When I was a freshman coming in she was a senior, so I hung out with a lot of seniors,” Tucker said.
He recently did a final walk-through at his alma mater.
"I didn't know that I would remember some of the things, like I kind of knew where my locker was on the second floor,” Tucker said.
He even shared a video on social media showing some of the rooms where he studied, including the thematic teaching program.
“Just looking at the classrooms… and two in particular where I had the teaching training, where they taught us how to write lesson plans and things like that. Those two classrooms I remember most of my experiences,” Tucker said.
After graduating, Tucker went to Morehouse College and started a career in social work. He continues that work now back home in Cleveland and also sings and produces music.
As for Jones, she’s still deciding where she’ll attend classes next school year. She’s confident in Collinwood’s tradition never running dry.
"We'll always be standing,” Jones said.
"What is your message to Clevelanders who might see their school closed?” I asked Tucker.
“We're all seeing some difficult, tough times right now,” Tucker said. “And I think that we're seeing people and communities come together like never before to be resilient and to survive."
Holloway said she hopes to have 150 Collinwood students make the move to Glenville.
Glenville will eventually move into a newly constructed building on the city’s east side. The target date is 2031. The district said talks about those plans will ramp up next month.
Damon Maloney is a Cuyahoga County and We Follow Through anchor at News 5 Cleveland. Follow him on X @DMaloneyTV, on Facebook DamonMaloneyTV or email him at Damon.Maloney@wews.com.
