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Getting back to school

Student, parent orientation set for early next week ahead of Aug. 23 class start

T-R FILE PHOTO - It won’t be long before students are back in class at Marshalltown Schools. Student and family open houses will help students get oriented next week. On Aug. 21, Miller Middle School, Marshalltown High School and Marshalltown Learning Academy will hold open houses. On Aug. 22, all six elementary schools and Lenihan Intermediate School will host families for orientation. The first day of school is Aug. 23.

Nine weeks ago, students all over Marshalltown Schools were racing through school doors, ready to experience summer — now, it’s time for them to get ready to return, some of them to new and unfamiliar buildings.

That’s why the district will host two back-to-school night events. The first set of events will be at Miller Middle School from 5-7 p.m., and Marshalltown High School and Marshalltown Learning Academy 4-6 p.m. Aug. 21. Lenihan Intermediate School will have orientation from 4 p.m. to 5 p.m. and all six elementary schools from 5 p.m. to 6 p.m. Aug. 22.

“They’ll come in and students will get their schedules, lockers, both (Associate Principal) Dave (Glenn) and I will talk a little bit about expectations and what they year is going to look like,” said Miller Principal Pat Rial. “It gives the students and parents alike a chance to get acclimated to the environment.”

He said the transition from Lenihan to Miller comes with a lot of change.

“The biggest thing with us is, they’re going to be going to … seven to eight different classes during the school day,” Rial said. “Another big thing we offer at Miller is our student activities … band, choir, orchestra, athletics.”

Students entering Lenihan also have to work through transition. That building’s principal, Kyle Young, said many students got familiar with the building in the spring.

“I go over there, I bring a couple fifth- and sixth-grade kids over there and we talk about all the questions that they might have about what it looks like,” he said. “Then, their class comes over and we give them a tour.”

The focus for Wednesday’s back-to-school night, then, will be on Lenihan parents.

“That just kind of goes over the logistics of what to expect, what’s new, what’s different in fifth grade,” Young said.

He said the students and parents will be able to store supplies, find desks and lockers, and meet with staff.

Getting familiar with the building and staff at the elementary level is also important.

“We usually have a huge turnout, I don’t expect it to be different this year,” said Woodbury Elementary Principal Anel Garza. “However, under the circumstances that we’re in right now, that’s an unknown for us.”

Woodbury was one of three schools in the path of the July 19 tornado, but Garza said students will be safe during the back-to-school night and once classes begin.

“We do have some leaks up on our second floor … we will have buckets and wet signs out,” she said.

She and Rogers Elementary Principal Mick Jurgensen said students and parents will be able to explore the building and ask questions to staff.

“We don’t always have face-to-face registration anymore, so we won’t necessarily have a face-to-face meeting before school starts, except for back-to-school night,” Jurgensen said. “It’s an important night … more important than ever.”

Garza said the atmosphere is “very, very casual” and gives families time to orient themselves ahead of the next nine months of school.

The 2018-19 school year begins Aug. 23.

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Contact Adam Sodders at (641) 753-6611 or asodders@timesrepublican.com

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