Building up from the foundation

After 30 years, William H. Bashaw Elementary will be changing, both inside and out. The school has withstood time — and even a hurricane — and will move ahead into its next 30 years with a new mission and aesthetic.

The school, located along the Braden River off of 57th Street East, has had a strong emphasis in art and music since it opened in August 1985, but now, Principal Joshua Bennett hopes to help push the school toward new horizons by making it one of the district’s first STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts, and math) schools.

The 2015-16 school year will be the first year the school offers an engineering class. 

Bashaw’s program will be unique in that homeroom teachers will join their students in the engineering classroom and work with the instructor, instead of using it as a “drop off” program for their planning period.

“It allows staff to be more engaged with the program, and provide on-the-job training, too,” Bennett said.

New face

During the upgrade to STEAM certification, Bashaw will also get a $10 million makeover.

It’s the first time since the school opened that it’s received a large-scale renovation. The project will begin in early 2017 and take at least two years to complete.

“As the school gets revitalized and refreshed with a new look, we’ll also be transitioning into STEAM,” Bennett said.

Stable staff

In the 30 years since the elementary school’s start, it’s had only five principals. It’s also held on to many teachers who, after joining the Bashaw team, stay at the school until retirement.

Bennett said the school’s turnover rate is low; most people choose to stay. Right now, there’s a balance between staff who have reached retirement age and those who have just started at the school.

“It’s the perfect storm of new, energetic staff, and we still have new people in their 20th year who are still progressive,” he said.

Darlene Horner, the school’s registrar, has worked at the school since 1989. She was hired by the original principal, Tom Walker, and never left.

The glue that keeps her at Bashaw is the sense of community she has not only with the school, but also the surrounding neighborhood. She grew up in Bradenton and still has lots of friends and family in the area. Her four nieces attended Bashaw, and now her grandchildren and grand-nieces and -nephews are enrolled.

As registrar, Horner has become familiar with Bashaw’s families. She’s even registered children of children she’s registered in the past.

“There’s a really strong bond,” she said. “The generations keep following. Parents bring their children back.”

Horner’s favorite qualities of the school is the level of education the children receive, the traditions the staff has formed and the ability of parents to get involved in school activities.

“Education is a people business,” said Beth Marshall, assistant principal. “It’s the stories, the community and the traditions that make it special.”

Vicki Short, a second-grade teacher, currently holds the title of longest-running teacher, and all three of her children graduated from Bashaw. She started her career at the school as an intern in 1986, a year after it opened, and was hired on a year later.

Short also grew up in the area. She remembers driving past Bashaw on her way to college and thinking, “Maybe I’ll teach there someday.”

“Once you come in here, you never want to leave,” she said.

Margaret Gaitens, the other second-grade teacher and Short’s best friend, is second in the running for longest teacher at Bashaw. Gaitens was hired six months after Short.

“We’re like Tweedledee and Tweedledum,” she said.

The two teachers joke that they’ll be at Bashaw until they’re in electric scooters, trying to control their classrooms.

“People are dedicated,” Short said. “They’re here for the kids. It’s a happy atmosphere.”