Local News - August 2003

First day classes run smoothly

Students, teachers like half-day start

By JEREMY ASHTON, LTN Staff Writer

More than 11,000 Lincoln County students returned to school Thursday for a shortened day of classes that went very “smoothly,” according to several administrators.

The school district’s two newest schools, North Lincoln High and St. James Elementary, opened with relatively few problems.

North Principal Rick Freeman held an hour-long assembly in the main gym, which will get a few more coats of paint next week.

“So far, it’s going really great,” Freeman said. “All of the building is not complete yet. We’ve got some bugs regarding our bell system and other things that are not working like we want them to, but they will in time.”

The cultural arts wing was not completed in time for the first day but, aside from the auditorium, should be done by the end of next week, Freeman said. For the time being, band, art and other classes are being taught in vacant classrooms.

The television system was not quite finished either, and the intercom and bells still need to be adjusted.

At St. James, the only unfinished work was on the outside of the building.

The area around the school still looks like a construction site, and the main entrance is not complete due to weather-related delays.

Parents who dropped off or picked up their children had to use the bus entrance and cut across a gravel path to get to the front of the school. A line of cars was backed up all the way to St. James Church Road near the end of the school day.

The incomplete site work, however, proved to be a minor inconvenience for Principal Larry Shouse.

“I just feel very fortunate to be in the building,” Shouse said.

The usual first-day issues of working out bus routes and dealing with student transfers cropped up in the district’s established schools.

Perhaps the biggest problem Thursday was at West Lincoln Middle, where a Wednesday night storm caused water to seep into two classrooms. Principal Ron Deaton said teachers quickly mopped up the mess before students arrived.

Parents and students seemed to have most of their concerns addressed at open houses before Thursday.

North and St. James attracted large crowds for their open houses Wednesday, impressing Freeman and Shouse. Rock Springs Elementary Principal Glenda Walker said her school’s open house made the first day much easier.

For the first time, the district began the school year with a half day of classes.

The move was predictably met with fanfare by students.

“To put it in the words of one young man, ‘I don’t know who thought of this, but I love it,’” Walker said.

Faculty members also seemed to appreciate the half-day start.

“It’s just a good way to start the year off … ,” Deaton said. “It gave the teachers an opportunity to meet with their teams and to do planning and make adjustments.”

With the students just released at Lincolnton High, Assistant Principal Mitch Sherrill began preparing for a faculty meeting. Rather than leaving at 5 or 6 p.m., he said, the teachers were excited about going home two or three hours earlier.

“The teachers feel refreshed because this is still part of their normal day,” Sherrill said.

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Staff Writer Jeremy Ashton can be reached at 704-735-3031 or jashton@ltnews.com.

© 2001 Lincoln Times-News  

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