Key fall dates
Labor Day, Sept. 7
Fall break, Oct. 12-13
Teacher planning, Oct. 14
Thanksgiving break, Nov. 23-27
Winter break, Dec. 21-Jan. 1
Sarah Paulene talks with her daughter, Paisley, as they wait for Oglethorpe County Elementary School to open on the first day of school. Paisley entered pre-K this year. (Ellie English/The Oglethorpe Echo)
Oglethorpe County faculty and staff welcomed students back to the classrooms last Friday.
First-year superintendent Phillip Powell said teachers were excited to have the students return to school after they spent time preparing their classrooms.
“A lot of smiles on faces today, both from teachers and students,” he said.
Powell’s priority for the first day was making sure everything ran smoothly and creating a pattern for success.
One challenge on Friday occurred at Oglethorpe County Elementary School, where the school introduced a new car rider system using QR codes in the afternoons.
Principal Katie Baldwin said the morning drop off went smoothly, but the afternoon pickup presented challenges as staff and students adjusted to the new system.
“Every first day of school, the car rider line is a challenge,” Baldwin said. “It definitely was challenging on Friday and took a whole lot longer than we would have liked, but we kind of knew that. As it always is when you’re trying something new, there’s some growing pains and you have to get adjusted.”
Baldwin said the school had already seen improvements by Monday.
“I think we shaved off an hour today, so we’re feeling much better about the system today than we were on Friday afternoon,” Baldwin said.
The new system changed how the school collected names and organized students for pickup. OCES has 1,031 students, with many of the students being car riders.
“We do have a huge percentage of car riders, and of course, the first few days, it seems like we always have a whole lot more just because it’s the beginning of school and parents like to drop off and pick up, but we usually sustain a whole lot of car riders throughout the year,” Baldwin said.
About 25 staff members are assigned to car rider duty at OCES, but Baldwin said the school is always fortunate enough to have other staff members jump in to help, especially on the first day.
The car rider crew in the morning drop-off line plays music and wears festive accessories to help put smiles on the students’ faces as they enter the building.
Baldwin said parents are allowed to walk their children into the building and drop them off during the first few days of school, but the school is asking parents to drop their child off starting Wednesday to ensure the building stays secure.
Powell said the district had no issues Friday other than OCES’ car rider system.
“We still are working out our car rider system at the elementary school,” Powell said. “I think we have a good system in place, but it’s going to require some patience and communication.”
He said the district’s transportation system, nutrition services and the other schools ran smoothly.
At OCES, Baldwin looks forward to establishing a routine and is excited for the students to be back.
“We appreciate all our parents, who are always so patient as we get into the swing of things every year,” she said.