I am always amazed at the flurry of activity that happens in schools the last week to ten days before the start of classes. Admittedly, I sometimes have a brief moment of panic wondering if we are in fact going to meet our deadline. Of course each year we do because of the hard work and commitment of our staff to seeing the job through to the end. Our maintenance and custodial staff deserves a tip of the hat for what they were able to accomplish this summer, and in particular during the final push to the start. The weekend before school started staff were in the buildings waxing floors in the elementary school and working on a ceiling in the high school. Then on Wednesday evening (the eve of the first day), our crew stayed late to finish up some ceiling work in the junior high. Most notably they did all this short staffed, so if you see them around town please take a moment to thank them for their efforts.
Because of this extra effort and the incredible work of our faculty to get their rooms and lesson plans prepared we have had an outstanding start to the school year. Our teachers were so helpful and flexible as we started it has been truly phenomenal! Today it is only the fifth day of school, and already we are beginning to establish a routine. Indeed it seems like eons ago we were all gathered for the opening kick-off in the high school auditorium. During my visits to classrooms I am observing students who are engaged with their teachers in creative and very well designed lessons.
If your child hasn't had an opportunity to try our new hot lunch program yet, I would highly encourage it. So far the feedback has been very positive and the students are enjoying a quality lunch that is prepared fresh daily. If you have been following me on Twitter then you are aware our participation rate for hot lunch is up. Last year on the first day of school we served 281 meals. The first day this year we served 438. We do expect that number to continue climbing as the word gets out on how great our lunch program is! While we can attribute high quality and delicious meals to the increased participation rate, we also have to take special note that our enrollment has increased.
Our first day enrollment is up 26 over last year, and is the highest first day count we have had since I started tracking it in 2012. Now while not an apples to apples comparison, our first day enrollment number of 748 is the largest number of students served in the district since 2008 when we posted a BEDS number of 749. Keep in mind the first day enrollment number is unofficial and will continue to fluctuate over the coming weeks. We officially count students on October 1st, so stay tuned!
Increasing enrollment is a great thing for our school district! But it does come with its own unique set of challenges. As our enrollment rises, we will need to adjust staffing accordingly. The next couple of weeks will be important as classes begin to stabilize and we determine if additional staff may be necessary. Indeed, it is beginning to look as if we may need to add some additional courses at the high school.
Transportation is another area that we are closely monitoring. For our afternoon routes we have added a half route to Country Terrace after discovering route 19 had 42 students riding to Butterfield and 34 to Country Terrace. While in theory the bus for route 19 has a rated capacity of 77 students, that assumes those students are five years old and fit three to a seat! Luckily we were able to find a driver for this route, and at some point we may be looking to add the morning leg of that route as well.
It has been a fantastic start to the school year! It is great having everyone back and seeing our hallways filled with students once more!
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