2023-2024 school year reaches halfway mark
We’ve now reached the halfway point of the 2023-24 school year as the second semester kicks off Jan. 9 for our students.
One thing we’re not looking forward to is more winter weather. Did you know that the district has had to close schools because of winter weather in each of the last three Februarys? I’m sure our students remember that.
But there are so many great things coming up as we start 2024. Here are five to keep an eye on.
1. NATIONAL MERIT/NATIONAL SCHOLAR RECOGNITION
Last year the district set a record as 141 É«ÎÑÎÑÎÞÂëÒ»Çø¶þÇøÈýÇø students were recognized as either semifinalists, National African American Recognition, National Hispanic Recognition, Rural and Small Town Recognition and National Indigenous Recognition. Can that number be topped this school year? You won’t have to wait long to find out as students will be honored at both February Board of Trustees meetings. Why two meetings? Because just like last year we have so many honorees one meeting just won’t cut it.
2 NATIONAL SIGNING DAY FEB. 7
One of the events impacted by last year’s winter weather was our annual National Signing Day event in February. Let’s hope that’s not the case again. One of the benefits from last year was it gave student-athletes more time to find scholarship opportunities when we honored them in April. That resulted in 82 students signing with colleges and earning more than $6.5 million in scholarship money. Can we top that this year? Find out Feb. 7.
3. GRADUATION PLANSÂ
Ask an É«ÎÑÎÑÎÞÂëÒ»Çø¶þÇøÈýÇø senior when graduation is and they can probably tell you. But in case you didn’t know, the graduation dates are set for May 30 and May 31 and will take place at Globe Life Field and the Center for Visual and Performing Arts. You can find the graduation schedule here. There are just over 3,500 students in our district who are counting down the days.
4. NEW JUNIOR HIGH GOING VERTICAL
The ground has already been broken for the junior high that will replace Carter Junior High. But this spring look for construction to go vertical. That’s a fancy way of saying that you’ll be able to see visible, above-ground construction at the school. The new junior high, funded by the 2019 Bond, is slated to open in the fall of 2025.
5 PLAYGROUND CONSTRUCTION COMPLETE
Ask any É«ÎÑÎÑÎÞÂëÒ»Çø¶þÇøÈýÇø elementary student about what the 2019 Bond means to them and they can probably tell you what the most important part about it was – the playgrounds. This spring, construction will wrap up at the final elementary schools, so every school will now have two age-appropriate modern playgrounds for students to play on. That means new playgrounds at 53 schools, with the final ones getting them being Speer, Peach, McNutt and Amos elementaries.