MONTGOMERY - As a new school year fast approaches, members of the Montgomery Area School Board are gearing up for the return of students and teachers.
High school Principal Michael L. Prowant warned board members that things were going to get busy between this meeting and the next, which is scheduled for just after school begins.
"We're not going to see each other again before the year starts, and we need to get prepared. As athletics start to roll, things are going to become hectic," Prowant said.
One major change this year will be for the middle school orientation, Aug. 23.
"Parents will be getting letters in the mail about this, but this year all middle school grades - sixth, seventh and eighth - will attend," Prowant said. In the past, he said, only sixth-graders were required to come to orientation.
"In the past, we've had a high number of students in the upper grades who moved into the area over the summer. They were allowed to come to orientation with the sixth-graders, but it didn't really work because none of the seventh- and eight-grade teachers were there," Prowant said.
According to Prowant, it will allow for all students to start out the new school year with the same information.
Students still will have their individual class meetings the first week of school, as they have in the past, but hopefully the schoolwide orientation will ease the transition from summer into class time.
"We decided to bring them all in for one evening so they all understand the goals, rules and regulations of the new school year," he said.
"This way they'll all know what's expected of them - what they can and can't do," he added.
Prowant also said that several important sports-related meetings soon will take place. On July 25, the head coaches will meet with board members to review the new school year's athletic handbook.
Fall sports practices begin Aug. 13.
On Aug. 14, 15 and 16, the high school office will be open, to allow students to come in and make changes to their schedules.
