Millis Road Elementary Students to Celebrate 43 Nations in Parade

Nearly 100 Millis Road Elementary School students carried flags from 43 countries in a Parade of Nations on the morning of March 27, turning the school's campus in Jamestown into a vivid map of its students' origins.

Each flag represented a country with families currently enrolled at the school, which serves about 459 students in grades pre-K through fifth. The school's racial and ethnic makeup already signals broad diversity: roughly 39 percent of students are white, 26 percent are Black, 19 percent are Hispanic, and 10 percent are Asian. But the 43-country count reached deeper, drawing on the specific national origins of students and families who call Jamestown home.

The Parade of Nations was organized as a cultural celebration and an exercise in learning and mutual respect, with students taking an active role in representing the countries connected to their backgrounds. Families and community members were invited to attend the morning procession. Millis Road Elementary is part of the Guilford County Schools district, which operates 77 elementary schools across the county.

The parade took place during a period of active civic life in Jamestown. The town's council and planning boards earlier this month rejected a rezoning application for a 138-unit apartment complex on West Main Street, one of several land-use decisions shaping what kind of community Jamestown is becoming. On Millis Road, the answer on March 27 came in the form of 43 flags and nearly 100 students carrying them.