Administrators say school year off to a smooth start

Students attending their first day of school at Wyandotte Elementary in Morgan City Tuesday morning saw some new construction to their school.
The school has new front door enhanced security features, while the entire office suite has been redone, all making for a much different look than what they saw when the school year ended abruptly in mid-March due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“For some of them, it’s kind of like walking into a new school,” Principal Tammilee Kelly said. “It’s a new year, new school.”
While Wyandotte had physical signs of construction this summer, faculty, staff and administrators on all levels of the St. Mary Parish School System undertook their own construction this summer as they built and modified plans all to prepare for an unprecedented school year that began Tuesday as schools reopened while the COVID-19 pandemic still persists.
The initial reviews of how the implemented plans for Phase 2 of the state’s reopening process in the COVID-19 pandemic worked were positive.
“Overall, the first day of school in a year of unprecedented changes was smooth,” St. Mary Parish Superintendent of Schools Teresa Bagwell said.
Only half of the school populations in elementary, junior high and high schools attended school Tuesday, while the other half will do so Wednesday. The move is to acclimate the students to the new changes they will undergo this year to safely attend school during the pandemic.
As the school year begins utilizing virtual technology, there have been some expected issues to work out, but overall, administrators The Daily Review interviewed were pleased with the first day.
“Today has actually been an extremely good day,” Berwick Junior High Principal Kristin Percle said. “Although everything really has been different for the kids being back on campus, I think everybody here — students, staff, everybody — they’re just so excited to be back that they have really embraced all these changes. It’s almost amazing to watch. It’s like they’ve adjusted, and they’ll do anything just to be back here on campus.”
Bagwell said she observed safety protocol being followed at different schools, and plans developed for different aspects of the school day were implemented.
First-year Morgan City High School Principal Tim Hymel, who leads the parish’s biggest school in terms of enrollment, said the school facility’s size allows for the additional space needed with the students.
“We did a lot of planning to make sure that today was running smoothly,” he said. “We thought of pretty much everything. … Everybody’s been so wonderful at school as far as helping and wanting to do what they had to do, and that was part of today working. Just preparation.”
The transportation to school via bus worked as planned, too, Bagwell said.
“Our buses were able to navigate their prescribed routes, and students arrived at school in time to fully complete hand washing and temperature checks before picking up breakfast to report to their first class on schedule,” she said.
While some additional routes were added in certain areas, Bagwell said most drivers are able to continue their single routes — even with 50% bus capacity — because of the number of students who will be participating in virtual learning this year.
The smooth start was aided by additional time teachers and administrators were given to fine-tune plans, procedures and instructional methods before they were put into use Tuesday morning.
“I think the time off really helped us to prepare and teachers to get confidence in doing the virtual route that they’ve never done before either,” Hymel said.
For junior high and high school students, this week will consist of the two groups of students each attending school twice, while next week, they will begin attending classes twice per week with Wednesday used by teachers for smaller group learning, reaching out to parents and other assistance to students while the schools are cleaned.
Percle said that interaction between students and teachers that has begun again with the new school year was a good thing after how the school year ended a year ago.
“It’s that little bit of normalcy that I think has been really good for everybody’s soul on campus today,” she said.
In the elementary schools, the second half of students will attend their first day of classes Wednesday before all students begin classes daily, starting Thursday.
“We’re very excited to have our kids, and we’re really looking forward to a fantastic year,” Kelly said. “I love my kids. We’re a family here, and we’re glad to have family back.”