School bells ring Wednesday in St. Mary

One building has been completed. Another is coming down. The rest are cleaned and shined. Teachers have been in for training.
St. Mary public schools will open for the 2018-19 year on Wednesday.
“The buses will be rolling first thing Wednesday morning,” Superintendent Leonard Armato said Monday. “We’re ready to go.”
Central Catholic is undergoing some changes, too. Holy Cross Elementary and Central Catholic Elementary have been merged to create Central Catholic School. Classes at the Catholic school are set to begin Wednesday, too.
Bishop Shelton Fabre of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Houma-Thibodaux will celebrate a dedication Mass at 5:30 p.m. Aug. 14 at Holy Cross Church.
A blessing and reception will follow at the Yvonne Anne Adams Life Center.
At Patterson, officials and construction crews hustled last year to get the new $18.5 million Patterson Junior High building ready in time for the start of school. The school opened on time, but a second-story portion for fifth-graders still needed to be completed. That work is now done, Armato said.
The city of Patterson’s Atchafalaya Chat newsletter describes the new addition as both attractive and state of the art.
“If you love the way the school looks on the outside, come by during any of our events and take a look at the in-side,” Principal Mark Spradling is quoted as saying. “You will be impressed.”
The portion of the old junior high building at the same Catherine Street site is being demolished, the superintendent said.
“They’re moving pretty quickly,” Armato said.
Berwick Elementary also got some sprucing up, according to School Board President Michael Taylor:
“Berwick Elementary School’s two-story building that was built in 1926 received a facelift this summer. … Acadiana Renovators (ARL) from Franklin did a complete waterproofing of the exterior of the building. The project included pressure washing the entire building, repointing the bricks (repairing the mortar joints), sealing the exterior with an elastomeric coating, caulking all windows and repainting all trim work. This work should preserve the building for many more years of service to the Berwick community.”
More big changes are in effect this year.
St. Mary public high schools are eliminating block scheduling, in which students could take new classes each semester, to a traditional seven-period day.
High school students will have fewer options when it comes to collecting the credits required for graduation. But the move was expected to save $1 million for a school board that found itself with an unexpected $3 million shortfall for the last three months of the 2017-18 fiscal year. A drop in property tax income and a reduction in state Minimum Foundation Program funding accounted for much of the shortfall.
The 2018-19 budget approved in June eliminated 30 teacher positions, all through attrition.
The other big change is about the way the state Department of Education accountability program defines proficiency on its standardized LEAP tests. The state has upped the standard from “Basic” to “Mastery,” which means students will have to do better on their tests to meet the standard.
For two years, St. Mary has been with a fraction of a point under the accountability system of earning an A letter grade for the district. The new standards will push the finish line farther away.