Whitko Administrators Excited For Start Of New School Year
August 14, 2018 at 12:23 a.m.
Whitko Administrators Excited For Start Of New School Year
By Staff Report-
School administrators spent the evening before hosting back-to-school events and orientation meetings, as well as connecting students with their new teachers.
Students in kindergarten to sixth grade will attend Pierceton Elementary and South Whitley Elementary this school year while seventh- through 12th-grade students will unite at Whitko Jr./Sr. High School on the South Whitley campus, formerly Whitko High School, according to a news release from the school corporation.
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“We’re really excited that we are moving to a 7-12 configuration here. I think that was the responsible thing to do,” said Principal John Snyder, Whitko Jr./Sr. High School. “Educationally, it’s a homerun because of all the programming we’re able to continue. We’re able to offer more programming to our junior high students, and so educationally, this is really going to be an outstanding move for us.”
At Pierceton Elementary School, Principal Mike McClain said, “The excitement has been building. Last week, we had our Pierceton Town Festival, and got to see a ton of kids out on the parade route, and our teachers walked the parade, so I’m excited to see the excitement on the kids faces as they are getting back with their teachers and getting back into the classroom.”
McClain shared his enthusiasm for student leadership happening on campus through programming offered by PES such as the Junior Tech Team. “With kids knowing the technology like they do, they can come in and help out the individual students,” he said.
South Whitley Elementary School Principal Bryan Emmert said, “This year with our consolidation, we will be having sixth grade at our building. So it’s kind of exciting that we will be having our own sixth-grade athletics, hosting some of our own home events, and our students and those teams will be traveling.”
South Whitley Elementary began the big day with its tradition of lining up outside of the building and then waving goodbye to moms and dads as students entered the building for the first time this year. The tradition has become a favorite among community members.
Whitko Community Schools’ new interim superintendent, Nick Eccles, enjoyed the day and shared on an important topic, building student relationships. He said, “The number one thing that we want to do is try to form positive relationships with our students. We had a faculty meeting yesterday where we really talked about not only educating students, but really getting to know our students. At this size of school, with the size of classes that we have, our faculty has a great opportunity to not only educate but truly make a difference in the lives of our kids.”
The 2018 school year will be the first year for Whitko to see the fruits of its labor by consolidating its school system. The decision was made last year to no longer host students at Whitko Middle School, and from that decision began a path that incorporated sixth-grade students into the already existing elementary schools while also adopting seventh- and eighth-grade students into the existing 9-12 grade campus in South Whitley, beginning Whitko Jr./Sr. High School, the news release stated.
School administrators spent the evening before hosting back-to-school events and orientation meetings, as well as connecting students with their new teachers.
Students in kindergarten to sixth grade will attend Pierceton Elementary and South Whitley Elementary this school year while seventh- through 12th-grade students will unite at Whitko Jr./Sr. High School on the South Whitley campus, formerly Whitko High School, according to a news release from the school corporation.
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“We’re really excited that we are moving to a 7-12 configuration here. I think that was the responsible thing to do,” said Principal John Snyder, Whitko Jr./Sr. High School. “Educationally, it’s a homerun because of all the programming we’re able to continue. We’re able to offer more programming to our junior high students, and so educationally, this is really going to be an outstanding move for us.”
At Pierceton Elementary School, Principal Mike McClain said, “The excitement has been building. Last week, we had our Pierceton Town Festival, and got to see a ton of kids out on the parade route, and our teachers walked the parade, so I’m excited to see the excitement on the kids faces as they are getting back with their teachers and getting back into the classroom.”
McClain shared his enthusiasm for student leadership happening on campus through programming offered by PES such as the Junior Tech Team. “With kids knowing the technology like they do, they can come in and help out the individual students,” he said.
South Whitley Elementary School Principal Bryan Emmert said, “This year with our consolidation, we will be having sixth grade at our building. So it’s kind of exciting that we will be having our own sixth-grade athletics, hosting some of our own home events, and our students and those teams will be traveling.”
South Whitley Elementary began the big day with its tradition of lining up outside of the building and then waving goodbye to moms and dads as students entered the building for the first time this year. The tradition has become a favorite among community members.
Whitko Community Schools’ new interim superintendent, Nick Eccles, enjoyed the day and shared on an important topic, building student relationships. He said, “The number one thing that we want to do is try to form positive relationships with our students. We had a faculty meeting yesterday where we really talked about not only educating students, but really getting to know our students. At this size of school, with the size of classes that we have, our faculty has a great opportunity to not only educate but truly make a difference in the lives of our kids.”
The 2018 school year will be the first year for Whitko to see the fruits of its labor by consolidating its school system. The decision was made last year to no longer host students at Whitko Middle School, and from that decision began a path that incorporated sixth-grade students into the already existing elementary schools while also adopting seventh- and eighth-grade students into the existing 9-12 grade campus in South Whitley, beginning Whitko Jr./Sr. High School, the news release stated.
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