Students prepare for return to school

About 4,200 area students will soon have to leave the rest and relaxation of the holiday break behind as they prepare to head back to class.

Thousands of local public, private and parochial school students, as well as college-aged students, will jump back into their normal school routines within the next couple of weeks.

USD 234 and USD 235 schools are scheduled to start the spring semester Jan. 5, while Fort Scott Community College students continue to enjoy an extra week off as they do not return to class until Jan. 12. USD 234, which operates two elementary schools, a middle school and a senior high school, saw a 25-student increase in enrollment this year. A head count this fall showed a total of 2,011 K-12 students enrolled in those four schools.

A total of 461 K-12 students -- down slightly from last year's enrollment -- are enrolled in classes this year in two Uniontown schools.

A little more than 1,700 FSCC students will return to the rigors of college life and to begin spring semester classes on Jan. 12, when day and night classes officially begin at the two-year college. Fall enrollment numbers showed 1,739 students at FSCC -- a 43-student increase from last fall. Those students are enrolled in a total of 17,923 credit hours of instruction.

About 50 K-12 students at Fort Scott Christian Heights, a local private school, are also scheduled to return to the halls of learning on Jan. 5. About 55 preschool through 5th grade students at St. Mary's Catholic School, a local parochial school, will also get back to class soon, although due to the break, St. Mary's officials were not available to provide a date as of press time.

Local students and teachers, including students, faculty and staff at FSCC, must press on now until spring break, which is scheduled for Mar. 16-20. Schools have plenty of activities lined up to keep busy until that time and throughout the rest of the school year.