On Friday, February 16, 2004, Rio Vista Elementary held its first “Dance with a Loved One” event in partnership with the Rio Vista Parent Club. The evening included a DJ with age-appropriate music, a professional photo booth, and a selfie backdrop area. Pizza and snacks were enjoyed by all. Rio Vista Elementary Principal Beverly Garnica said, “We had an amazing night at our first Dance With a Loved One at Rio Vista event! A huge thanks to our counselor, Mrs. Ibarra, our wonderful Parent Club, and our DJ. It was a great evening!” Courtesy Rio Vista Elementary blog https://www.blog.fillmoreusd.org/rio-vista-elementary-roadrunners-blog/2024/2/20/dance-with-a-loved-one.

Courtesy Luther Richmond, MA Education, Rio Vista Elementary School Parent

Re: Rio Vista Elementary Dance Gets an A+ on “Dance with a Loved-One Event”

On Friday February 16, 2024 Rio Vista Elementary hosted its first annual “Dance with a Loved-One” school dance inside the school multi-purpose room with support from the Rio Vista Parent Club. Each student was given a glow-in-the-dark strobe light foam toy as they entered the venue that was filled with upbeat, age-appropriate music provided by DJ Corona. The event featured a professional photo booth with props and a DIY selfie backdrop area. Pizza, snacks, and beverages were for sale. The event was a great success and exceeded the expectations of many parents and even some of the organizers. The dance floor stayed occupied at all times and at one point, several of the fifth graders started a dance circle and conga line that was joined by other students from every other grade level down to the kindergarteners. At the surface level, the event may be perceived as a fun Friday night dance to start a three day weekend, however, the importance of these types of events cannot be overstated.

As a parent of fifth and second grade “Roadrunners,” several years of my children’s and their classmates’ elementary school years were significantly disrupted by the pandemic and connections were lost. This event was a strong effort by the school to bolster community-school relations as many continue forward toward a sense of normalcy. As a result, the school should see positive ripple effects in the near future in regard to parent engagement following the pandemic that disconnected so many of us. Many parents met school staff and the families of their children’s classmates at the event as well.
Depending on the school district, it is often challenging to approve funding for fun “non-educational” events like this, however, it is important for all families and students to have positive experiences on their campus, and events such as this one should be encouraged and celebrated by school districts and parent-teacher organizations. Students laughed, played, and danced with other classmates and their loved ones inside the same cafeteria where they have lunch. We lined up for pizza where they line up during school. When these experiences are shared, understanding and respect spreads and bullying and school violence incidents are reduced.

These events must be valued for their ability to unify students, increase parent engagement, and to boost the overall social-emotional health of the campus. The weekend is now over, but our “Roadrunners” are still talking about and energized by Friday night’s dance. On behalf of all of the Rio Vista parents, I am sending a big thank you to Principal Beverly Garnica, the school staff, and all of the parent club members who said yes to this event and put in the extra work to make it happen.