Labor Day weekend is a time children can cram in a bit more fun in the clouds and drizzle before school starts.
Students in the Coupeville School District head to school Tuesday, Sept. 2, while students in the Oak Harbor School District start school Thursday, Sept. 4.
At Coupeville Elementary School, teachers returned to the building Tuesday and have been participating in professional development activities and decorating their classrooms ever since.
“Whether or not we’re ready, they’ll come,” Principal Fran McCarthy joked in an interview Thursday morning. In addition to the new students who are starting school as kindergartners, there are also five new teachers starting at the school this year. They replace teachers who have either retired or who lived off island and decided to find something closer to home because of rising fuel prices, McCarthy said.
Like all of the other public schools on the island, Coupeville Elementary School is seeing fewer students. Projections place enrollment at 410 students, which is 30 fewer students than last year.
Nevertheless, the staff and parents are busy getting ready for the first day of school.
Andria Capiola, member of the Coupeville Elementary School PTA, was with her son, Taylor, at the school decorating a bulletin board hanging near the main entrance promoting the organization. Taylor is entering the fifth-grade.
She said the PTA is promoting health and nutrition throughout the school year. She added that the group is always looking for parents to join.
Students attending the elementary school will enjoy a half day of school Tuesday while students at the middle and high school will have to attend a full day of classes.
School in the Oak Harbor School District begins Thursday, Sept. 4. The biggest change will be the opening of the Oak Harbor High School North Campus. That building, which used to be Clover Valley Elementary School, is needed for the high school because the main building is undergoing a renovation.
Freshmen and sophomores will take their core classes at the former elementary school, which is located near the main gate of the Navy base. Freshmen will take math, science and English and sophomores will take math, social studies and English. They will spend the other half of their day at the main campus to take their remaining courses.
