Back to school: Much work ahead for staff, students

Thursday, January 5, 2012
Drake

USD 234 staff and students, who headed back to class Tuesday, had a little time to rest and relax over the holiday break but now have much work ahead of them as they begin 2012.

"It's great to be back," Fort Scott Middle School Principal Barb Albright said. "The kids are all excited to be back. I was in lots of classrooms yesterday. I thought it was really nice the way teachers welcomed students back. They talked about spending time with friends and family over the holidays. Everybody seemed happy to be back."

Albright said the transition following the break has been smooth. She said she personally looks forward to returning to work following the vacation.

Albright

"I'm always ready to get back in a routine and see all my friends, students and colleagues," she said. "I think the kids like to get back and see their friends. They're very social at the middle school."

Albright said teachers and students plan to focus on reading through the rest of the year and continue preparing for state assessment tests students will take this spring.

"We're working hard in the area of reading," she said. "We're assessing individual students in reading. That is going well at the current time."

Eugene Ware Elementary School Principal Dave Elliott said he was "awfully glad to be back and see my kids again," adding everyone easily got back in their routines this week as if there had been no break.

"Things picked right back up where they left off," he said. "It's an easy thing to do. The routines for everybody just click right back into place. There's a routine that's built in."

Elliott said staff is continuing work on building and implementing a support system for a new reading program at the school. Staff also plans to continue preparing youngsters for state assessments they will take starting in late February.

Every student in the school takes two assessments, and some must take three tests, Elliott said.

Winfield Scott Elementary School Principal Billie Jo Drake said returning to work that first day following the holiday break at first appears to be a challenge until familiar routines are re-established.

"Sometimes it is a dread that first morning you get up, but once you get here, the routine kind of sets in, and it becomes very familiar and not nearly as difficult as we think in our minds it might be," she said.

"I let my mind think it's going to be a real challenge the day before we have to come back," she added. "It's just a matter of getting back in the routine."

Drake said the week started out well.

"The first couple of days have been very good," she said.

Winfield Scott staff and students are dealing with a different kind of challenge as they return to school following the Dec. 26 death of Carolyn Segebartt, a teacher at the school since 1997.

Drake said she believes the week after Segebartt's death was beneficial in that it "allowed for a healing time" for everyone before returning to school. She said the "Winfield Scott family is handling her loss well."

Segebartt taught second and third grade at Winfield Scott.

The focus for Winfield Scott staff and students for the remainder of the year will be reading and math and making sure second-graders are prepared to take state assessments next year as third graders, Drake said.

"For our building, we'll continue concentrating on doing the very best job of teaching reading and math we possibly can," she said. "We want to ensure our students will do well and we're getting our students educated to the point they will be successful on tests, in life and for the rest of their schooling."

Fort Scott High School Principal Bob Beckham said the break is beneficial for all students and staff and gives everyone an opportunity to get "refreshed."

"We can slow the pace down, spend time with family members, recharge and refocus," he said.

Beckham said for him, "it's great to be back after the break."

"I'm always ready to come back," he said. "I miss seeing the teachers and kids every day."

Beckham said he gets the sense that students feel the same way.

"Something I always notice every year is excitement and anticipation about the break, and I sense a similar excitement when they get to come back to school," he said.

Beckham said it has been business as usual since staff and students returned to school, and the week has gone smoothly.

"Everyone's a little tired in the afternoon," he said. "It went real smooth yesterday (Tuesday), and it's been a smooth second day as well. The kids are genuinely excited to be back. I know the seniors are. Their friends are here, and this is their last semester, so there's some excitement and anticipation with that."

Beckham said juniors will spend their entire second semester preparing for state tests.

"The intensity does pick up; the tests are inevitable and just a few months away now," he said.

For seniors, the focus will be preparing to take that "next step in their lives," Beckham said.