USD 235 school year begins with addition of new programs

UNIONTOWN -- After the carefree summer break, USD 235 administrators said they are glad to be back at work at the start of a brand new school year.

"It is always great to be back with a fresh new start," West Bourbon Elementary School Principal Marianna Daugherty said.

WBE is a preschool-through-sixth-grade elementary school located across the street from Uniontown Junior Senior High School. This year, the elementary school maintains a current enrollment of about 234 students, down slightly from 257 students a year ago.

USD 235 Superintendent Randy Rockhold agreed with Daugherty, saying he is thrilled to return to his job monitoring the education of students in his district.

"A new school year is always exciting," he said. "The opportunity to provide assistance for the students we are allowed to serve is incredible."

In addition to serving as the district's chief administrator, Rockhold's duties flow over to UJSHS, where he works as a principal for seventh and eighth grade students. UJSHS Principal Tracy Smith is currently the principal for ninth through 12th grade students at the school. UJSHS maintains an enrollment of 235 students this year, Rockhold said.

Rockhold said getting back to the grind of the school work week is typically stressful, but it is rewarding at the same time.

"I really can't think of a negative relative to the beginning of a school year," he said. "It is somewhat hectic, but at the same time that creates a great deal of energy and enthusiasm."

Daugherty credits her faculty and staff with helping to create a suitable environment that students feel comfortable learning and growing in.

"I love meeting new students and their parents," she said. "It is hard on new students who are learning new routines, but it usually does not take too long for them to become comfortable with us. The staff are great in making new students feel at home here."

District enrollment for the 2007-08 school year currently stands at close to 470 students, down slightly from last spring when slightly more than 500 students were enrolled in the district's two schools. Last spring, district enrollment was up from the previous fall, when about 493 students attended classes in the district.

Overall enrollment this year is down from last year, following significant increases in enrollment the last two years -- a comparison that is difficult to explain, Rockhold said. However, fewer students this year will not amount to less funding for the district, he said.

"I can't define why we have had a decrease this year, or why we had substantial increases the two years previous," he said. "Funding will not be impacted this year, because we can use last year's numbers this year. But in the future, we will have a decreased FTE (full-time equivalency) to generate general fund revenue."

WBE showed an increase in total enrollment last year for the first time in several years, Daugherty said. Enrollment at the school was actually on the decline before last year. There were 249 students enrolled at WBE during the 2005-06 school year, she said.

"We lost a large group of sixth graders last year and replaced them with a small group of kindergarten students," she said. "We have had some declining enrollment for several years."

Both administrators said there are a number of new educational programs students in both schools will be able to take advantage of this year. UJSHS will have a new study skills, math intervention and reading initiative, and it will also offer additional elective classes such as photography, art, woodworking, piano, guitar and music composition -- all courses and programs that were not available at UJSHS last year, Rockhold said.

The district's goal is to get more students active through the addition of these elective courses, while also improving the academic proficiency of those students, Rockhold said.

"It is our hope that we can engage more students through the additional elective opportunities, and we hope to increase proficiency by improving study skills and emphasizing key math standards with junior high students," Rockhold said.

Daugherty said this year WBE will again offer a Title I math program, a federal program that is aimed at low-performing students in schools with a high poverty level across the country. The program was not funded the last two years, she said. WBE does not currently have a full-time counselor on staff to help students in this program, but instead is sharing a counselor with UJSHS, Daugherty said.