Brandy Millican, a third-grade teacher at Sipsey Elementary School, assists her students Monday morning, which was the first day of classes for schools throughout Walker County. - Photo by: James Phillips.
Christian Hyche, a fourth-grader at T.R. Simmons Elementary School in Jasper, goes over his work on the first day of classes Monday. - Photo by: Ron Harris.
Students at Curry Middle School were seen visiting their lockers on Monday morning just before heading off to class on the first day of school. - Photo by: Elane Jones.
Faith Black’s third-grade class got to know each other at Sumiton Elementary Monday morning. - Photo by: Rachel Davis.
Students at Valley Elementary School enjoy lunch Monday morning during their first day of classes. - Photo by: James Phillips.
Walker County Board of Education Superintendent Jason Adkins said the school year couldn’t have started any smoother.
“Today was the most organized and problem free start to a school year that I can remember,” he said.
The smooth start could be attributed to teachers having extra days for professional development and early parent orientations, Adkins said. In the past, Walker County Schools held orientation after school was in session. Adkins said moving those parent visitations to the week before school started increased parent participation.
“Holding those before the school year took advantage of students and parents being excited about starting,” he said. “I would say we had the highest parent participation that we’ve ever had.”
Adkins said teachers had several days in the classroom after parent orientation to prepare for the first day of classes.
“Those extra days can really help teachers, and the orientations gave them an accurate number of how many students to expect,” he said.
Adkins said he plans to visit each school in the Walker County School System this week. Adkins visited five area schools Monday and said the morale in each of those schools was extremely high.
“It was just a good atmosphere. Everyone was excited about the first day of school,” he said.
Assistant Superintendent Jean Lollar visited each of the Jasper City Schools on Monday and said things went smoothly thanks to the hard work of the district’s administrators, teachers and support personnel. “We had a very successful day, and we just appreciate all the parents coming in and supporting their children.” she said.