Meadows Elementary School was a single building when it welcomed its first group of students, ready to embark on a journey of new discoveries, friendships, and academic milestones, in 1975.
Over the years, renovations were made, and classrooms were built to meet the needs of its surrounding growing suburban community.
Teri Satorhelyi walked in through the doors of the school’s multipurpose room on Friday with her two granddaughters and they were met with photos, yearbooks, and other memorabilia dating back to the 1970s for the 50th birthday celebration of the campus.
But it wasn’t her first time visiting the school. She once walked in through the doors about 38 years ago to enroll her daughter, Andrea, and son, Joseph, when she and her family first moved into town.
“There was nothing up here but grazing cows,” she said as she laughed, adding that, besides the small renovations, “nothing has changed.”
Her granddaughters Deanna Satorhelyi and Jade Satorhelyi both agreed. They graduated from Meadows Elementary in 2018 and 2020.
As they looked through photos of teachers and students playing out in the playground, and school projects throughout the years, they spotted their grandma Teri in one of the photos and teased her about her old-school-styled hair. She became a part of the school’s staff in the late 1980s before she moved on to the district level.
“All the generations had a very good experience here,” Teri said.
Deanna and Jade experienced a father and daughter dance, school plays, and performances in that very multipurpose room they were now standing in years later, where their dad and aunt also spent time decades ago, making it a full-circle moment.
They’d love to have their kids attend Meadows and keep the tradition going if they still live in the area when it’s time to build their own families, they said.
Students, parents, retired and current teachers attended the afternoon celebration to enjoy food, music and games, which was a testament to what makes the school so special: “It’s community,” Meadows Elementary Principal Janette VanGelderen said. “Everyone just embraces one another.”
When she began her career with the district about 12 years ago, Meadows was VanGelderen’s first school site where she worked as a math coach, she said. “When I walked into the office, I felt like I was home.”
Now, as the school’s leader and with the support of staff, about 750 students in grades TK-6 live out their motto: “Collaborate, Innovate, Persevere, Excel.”
Each month, students are celebrated at Rock Star Rallies, where they are recognized for their character, respectfulness, kindness and other positive qualities. The school was also recognized as a California Distinguished School in 2014, 2018 and 2023.
Newhall School District Superintendent Leticia Hernandez and governing board President Ernesto Smith were also in attendance, each wearing a special edition 50th birthday T-shirt to commemorate the occasion with everyone else.
“I’m so proud of the school, proud of the teachers, the staff,” Hernandez said. “The children work so hard, so it’s a wonderful accomplishment. Then to be here celebrating 50 years is pretty exciting.”
Smith, whose children also attended Meadows, credited the teachers and staff for their academic success.
“My two older sons have both tested for advanced math. I work with them on math, that’s my favorite subject, but Meadows took care of them,” he said, referring to the more complicated equations and problem solving.
The celebration continued outside under the sun with students dancing and a water fight, with some even playing giant Connect 4 and indulging on ice cream, honoring half a century.
The walls may have changed in color over the past five decades, and now classrooms may have more computers instead of physical books, but one thing remains the same for the school: It continues to be community centered and a place where students have made lasting memories throughout generations.
Looking toward the next 50, VanGelderen shared her hope for the future.
“I hope that it is still here thriving, and it continues to embrace the characteristics it has now,” she said. “The foundation it was built on, just that community-centered family feel, and that it is also excelling, because the students and teachers here are extraordinary.”
