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Greene County goes back to school

By Faith Headlee, For The Greene County Messenger 6 min read

Each year, as summer winds into fall, Greene County students get ready for another school year. To give area residents an idea of changes taking place in the county’s five school districts, the Messenger has put together a two-part “Back to School” series. Last week, we took a look at the Carmichaels Area, Southeastern Greene and Jefferson-Morgan school districts. This week, the focus is on the Central Greene and West Greene school districts.

CENTRAL GREENE SCHOOL DISTRICT

Brian Uplinger, superintendent of the largest of the five school districts in Greene County, has overseen many new changes in his district for this year, including welcoming new teachers to the district. Two new teachers have been hired, both specializing in special education. Hunter Barnhart was hired for the middle school and Raquel Rugani was hired to work for the high school.

New to the district this year is the ALICE (Alert Lockdown Inform Counter Evacuate) safety program. Teachers were trained on Aug. 21 about the program and students will likewise be trained. The ALICE program is comprised of proactive strategies that increase chances of survival in the case of an armed intruder event.

Going hand-in-hand with the new safety program, all buildings in the district will receive new secure entrances to ensure the safety of students and staff members.

Furthermore, there will also be changes in policies in the Central Greene School District that will help to make it a safer place for children. Procedures for visitor check-in, though not greatly altered, will be more heavily enforced than in years past. Policies for chaperones for school events have also changed; all chaperones are now required to get all the proper clearances before attending any school events. Details about the changes in policies can be found on the Central Greene School District website.

Many of the district’s facilities have been renovated or are currently under renovation.

“We’re still working on renovating the high school auditorium,” Uplinger said.

Uplinger said he anticipates it being completed by the end of October.

The district has had other improvements as well.

“We received a new track by the stadium, we’ve had a new scoreboard installed and we have a new ticket booth by the stadium,” Uplinger said.

Finally, in the high school, the life skills classroom has been moved from the second floor to the first floor and has undergone renovations.

The district has also made efforts to improve itself on a technological level.

“We’ve upgraded our entire network so we can begin looking into Bring Your Own Device,” Uplinger said.

Uplinger also stated that the district has updated the computer labs at the high school.

Uplinger also explained that policies regarding bullying and cyberbullying have changed as well.

The district is reviving the Olweus Anti-bullying curriculum, which is aimed to more proactively prevent bullying, reduce current bullying problems, and build better relationships between the students. Some teachers have undergone training for the program Aug. 12 and 13, and on Nov. 10 the entire staff will be trained with this program.

A total of 1,850 students returned to class on Aug. 25. Uplinger said he is looking forward to a school year full of changes and improvements.

“I’m very excited for this year. There’s a lot of stuff changing,” Uplinger stated. “It will be interesting to see how they (the students) take to the secure entrances and anti-bullying program.”

Lunches cost $2.00 for elementary students and $2.10 for middle school and high school students, which is an increase from last year. Breakfast prices have not changed and remain at $1.10.

Reduced prices for students who qualify are $0.40 for lunch and $0.30 for breakfast.

WEST GREENE SCHOOL DISTRICT

The West Greene School District has undergone a few changes as well, according to superintendent Thelma Szarell, starting with the staff.

“We have hired a new music instructor/band director for the Middle Senior High School, Scott McCullough,” Szarell said.

“We have a new elementary librarian, Stephanie Spence. And we have a new special education teacher at the Middle Senior High School, Haley Bissett, who will be teaching a life skills class.”

The district is also introducing a new program to the middle senior high called Response to Intervention, which middle senior high school assistant principal Jed Hamberger explained works in three areas: language arts, science, and math.

“Students are assessed every three to six weeks, sometimes up to nine weeks,” Hamberger said. “As they are assessed, it determines what class the students will be in.”

The program is tiered with tier 1 designed to teach core instructions, tier 2 designed for strategic intervention, tier 3 designed for intensive intervention, and tier 1a designed for strategic enrichment. The program is flexible, meaning students may be moved into different tiers based on their assessment scores.

Hamberger said the program will also help to discover which areas students are struggling with the most.

“I want to get an overall picture of what our weaknesses are,” Hamberger said. “Once we identity our weaknesses, we can begin to tackle them.”

Szarell said the district is planning to implement the RTI program for the elementary school and the high school as well. The program is designed so students who are struggling academically are given the help they are needed, while making sure that students who are excelling are still challenged and encouraged to learn more.

The district is still working to complete the new elementary center. Though there is not an exact date pinned down for the project’s completion, Szarell said.

“We are spending all our energies towards completing the center.” She added, “The building project is coming along well.”

She said that the district is working towards finishing a new parking lot and a new playground for the elementary center.

The middle-senior high school has also undergone renovations.

“We will be starting this year with a brand new kitchen facility at the middle school with new equipment,” Szarell said. Additionally, the middle senior high school now has air conditioning.

Szarell reported that there are no new extra curricular activities for the district but said “one new initiative that is starting to catch on is the ‘Quarterbacks for Life’ program, which is a leadership program for students and professional development program for teachers.”

The program is meant to instill a positive attitude about not giving up even when one is met with challenges.

Szarell is excited about the new school year.

“We’re moving in the right direction,” Szarell said.

“There are improvements with the new building and grounds. We’re in the middle of a lot of things right now.”

The first day of school was Aug. 25, and 1,720 students are enrolled in the district for this year.

Lunch prices have increased to $1.90 and breakfast remains priced at $1.00.

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