Time For Class
School Districts Return TodayBy John Whittaker jwhittaker@post-journal.com
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Jamestown Public Schools students will have a longer school day and a lot of new teachers when they report to school today.
For Deke Kathman, new Jamestown Public Schools district superintendent, the start of the school year is taking him back to his roots as a building principal. Each year, the district superintendent addresses the district's staff members during an assembly at Jamestown High School before the staff members go back to their individual schools. Tuesday's address was the first time Kathman had to address district personnel since he was a building principal.
''I hadn't done that opening day speech and presentation with the staff for a while,'' Kathman said. ''It really brings me back. I tried to do a brief job introducing the new staff members. We have 52 new teachers on board, which is a little over 10 percent of the total teaching staff. It's a big change for a lot of people.''
Elementary school children should arrive for school between 8:20 a.m. and 8:30 a.m. The late bell will ring at 8:30. The first day for elementary students will be a half-day with dismissal scheduled for 11:30 a.m. The first full day for elementary students will be Thursday. Dismissal time will be 3 p.m. The Jamestown Public Schools' universal pre-kindergarten full-day programs at Bush and Rogers elementary schools will only have a half-day today, while the universal pre-kindergarten half-day programs at Fletcher, Lincoln and Ring elementary schools and A Children's Place will have their first day of school Thursday.
Middle school pupils will report for a full day of school starting at 8:30 a.m. today. School will be dismissed at 3:05 p.m. Breakfast programs will begin today, and any interested children should report to their school at the appropriate times. Bus service will also begin today.
''Elementary schools will open 10 minutes earlier than last year,'' Kathman said. ''We've also added instructional time, albeit within the same school day, at the middle and high schools. We know more teaching time results in higher student achievement. That's a fundamental improvement that we negotiated into the teachers' contract this last time during negotiations.''
Work at Jefferson Middle School is nearly finished, with only canopies to be installed on an addition outside the school. Construction at Washington Middle School is still ongoing, though Kathman said the building is ready for children to start the school year. The new cafeteria is ready to run and the library is put back together, though there is still some work to do in the school's gymnasium. The biggest worry Kathman had was finished over the weekend.
''We are sprinting at the end over at Washington,'' Kathman said. ''We've got it into shape to open. We were very concerned about the driveway, because parents can't drop off their kids if the driveway's not done. The Lake Shore Construction crew did a great job putting that all together. ... It's all torn up in front. We're adding classrooms and an auditorium that we weren't expecting to inhabit for a while yet.''
There aren't any major structural changes at Jamestown High School, though Kathman said students will be able to take advantage of new after-school programs soon.
''Julie Poppleton landed a 21st Century grant that will open up as we get into the school year,'' Kathman said. ''It will be an after-school program for high school kids that involves a number of community agencies. There's a lot of stuff going on. ... It's an exciting time all the way around.''
