Back to the classroom

The first bells of the 2017-18 school year will ring today.

While students are finding their ways to new classrooms, making new friends and taking more steps in their academic journeys, the school district superintendents are evaluating the opportunities and challenges of the year ahead.

"We are excited to greet our students," said Post Falls School District Superintendent Jerry Keane. "The district will continue the positive momentum we have had over the past several years preparing our students to be successful not only in school but in their future careers."

Keane said his district will be welcoming several new staff members, including Wendy Lee, who was hired to fill the position as the district director of business services, and Andy Preiss, who has been hired as the principal of River City Middle School.

"As always, we are focused on improving student achievement not only in regards to state testing but in all curricular areas," Keane said. "We also anticipate that student enrollment will continue to increase. We take very seriously the commitment we make to our parents and to the community to ensure all students are safe and prepared to learn. Due to the support of our community and the commitment and skill of our staff, the 2017-2018 school year promises to be outstanding."

Student population increase is also a topic of concern for Post Falls's neighbors, Lakeland and Coeur d'Alene.

Lakeland School District Assistant Superintendent Lisa Sexton said although it is a good problem to have, Lakeland's full classrooms are a reflection of that increase.

"We're continuing to grow," she said. "We're looking at the possibility of an emergency levy to hire more staff if we qualify. That would give us the opportunity to reduce class size."

Sexton was pleased to report Lakeland is offering full-day kindergarten in all six of its elementary schools this year. This extra time with the kindergartners will allow teachers to go beyond the basics of math and reading to incorporate science and social studies into lessons, as well.

"We've not been able to do that," Sexton said. "Reading and math have to be the most important, so there's not a lot of time (for the other disciplines)."

She said this kindergarten extension is being made possible by literacy dollars that were appropriated last year, and that research shows kindergartners who have more time in the classroom will fare better with language.

"We targeted kids that came in behind," she said. "By December, they were already surpassing kids that had come in as proficient. That was data we couldn't ignore."

In Coeur d'Alene, Interim Superintendent Stan Olson said his district will be launching a search for a new superintendent.

"Our board is very committed to a very high involvement process for not only the school-related groups but community groups that want to have input in the process," he said. "It's an exciting opportunity for all of the folks that are involved with developing quality schools and sustaining quality schools to elect a person who will reflect those values."

He also commented on the population growth challenge.

"One of the issues is we've got serious crowding in our schools," Olson said, adding the capital construction implementation plan will be a high priority for the district.

"We've got to get on top of that," he said. "We've had a gap since the departure of the last superintendent. We've got to kick that into gear."