Welcome Back to Class

Students returned to school Thursday and were met by school employees, volunteers and, in some cases, cheerleaders eager to get the year rolling.

The first day of school had all of what most people might expect: long parent drop-off lines, parents taking pictures of their children before leaving them at school, faculty members helping students carry a plethora of school supplies to their classrooms and even some last-minute registrations.

Principal Christon Lee said Moseley Elementary School in Palatka benefitted from employees and community volunteers working together to minimize chaos.

Lee, a first-time principal, said one of the biggest missions on the first day was maintaining order.

“We’re getting them in and getting everyone in safely,” Lee said about 20 minutes before the 7:50 a.m. bell rang to signal the start of the school day. “Right now, so far so good. The community has been phenomenal in our first-day processing efforts.”

Numerous volunteers were at the school Thursday to help students unload supplies, point them in the right direction and take care of whatever else needed to be handled.

Numerous businesses also lent a hand in the days leading up to the first day, Lee said. Some businesses gave away ice cream and coffee to teachers on their planning days leading up to the first day, Lee said, while other volunteers made signs or set up a photo booth to capture special moments Thursday.

Lee said he expected no less from the community because he has seen how people have shown up for Moseley during his time as a student there and when his mother was a paraprofessional. His children attended Moseley and his wife teaches there, so he was delighted to learn he would be the new principal.

“It was overwhelming,” he said. “It was a feeling of wholeness and completeness. Moseley will always have my heart. It will always have a special place in my heart.

While some Moseley parents were sad to see their children leave for school, Tammaliah Williams said she was “elated” for her daughter to begin first grade.

The school sent her daughter home for the summer with workbooks, Williams said, so they practiced reading and other subjects during the break.

“I’m through the moon,” Williams said of her daughter’s return to school. “(I want her) to meet new kids, have a lot of positive educational experiences and for her to grow into her own.”

In the west end of the county, Interlachen Junior-Senior High School used school spirit to drum up excitement on the first day.

Pom-pom-wielding cheerleaders dressed in their uniforms were in the parent and bus drop-off areas to greet their classmates, and football players wore football T-shirts to get people excited.

Principal Amber Symonds said parents and students responded positively to first-day-of-school efforts and she hopes to carry that enthusiasm throughout the school year.

“People have come with such positive attitudes,” she said. “Lots of happy kids. Lots of happy parents.

“One of the advantages of having seventh graders in a junior-senior high school is they can be a part of this. It keeps them interested in school and hopefully helps them stay in school.”

Symonds, a former assistant principal at Moseley, was tapped to be Interlachen High’s principal in May. She credits that extra time with giving her a head start in getting acclimated with Interlachen High and the community that supports it.

Symonds wants to see her charges thrive this year and eventually make it to graduation when it’s their time. Setting the right tone on the first day of school is a great way to make that happen, she said.

She wants her students prepared for life after high school, no matter if they intend to attend a four-year college, go to a vocational school, join the military, enter the workforce right away or choose another path.

“The first day of school, it’s always a little special,” Symonds said. “It creates excitement about coming back. The biggest goal, the reason why we’re here, is to get the kids graduated and career-ready.”

Shortly before 4 p.m. Thursday, Superintendent Rick Surrency said the school day had gone well, with only a few traffic jams and other minor inconveniences casting a pall on the day.

He said the ease with which Putnam County School District employees handled the day shows how seriously they took the planning stages for the first day back in classes.

Surrency said he visited about half of the schools in the district and liked what he saw.

“They said it was a smooth day,” he said, referring to the status reports he received from all the schools. “We’re going to take it day by day. Everything went fine – no crises or anything like that.”

Surrency said something that increased efficiency and eased traffic jams at many of the schools is the district’s Wheels Only policy, which requires parents and guardians to let children out of the car in the drop-off line rather than allowing them to walk their children to their classroom.

It’s a safety precaution, he said, that allows school officials to keep track of who’s on campus and prevents parents from roaming the hallways unannounced.

Although Thursday was the official first day of school, many kindergarten students will begin today because of the district’s staggered start days for that grade. But one thing is for certain, Surrency said: everyone is expected to be at school Monday.

“Some come in today,” he said Thursday. “Some come in tomorrow. All of the kindergarteners will be there Monday.”

For school district information, visit putnamschools.org.