Riverbank schools return to session on Monday, Aug. 9 after the long summer vacation.
Opening times are all around 8 a.m. but staggered to accommodate bus schedules. The actual bell times are 8 a.m. at Riverbank High and Adelante High, 8:07 a.m. at Rio Altura and California Elementary, 8:15 a.m. at Cardozo Middle and 8:19 a.m. at Mesa Verde Elementary.
"We're looking forward to a great year," said Susan Taylor, assistant superintendent of schools for educational services. "We've had staff workshops in math and English language arts during the vacation. The sixth grade will be going to self-contained classrooms (as in elementary schools). We're working on a K-12 writing curriculum."
The schools have three new teachers, all at Riverbank Language Academy located on the Rio Altura campus. They include one teacher hired from among the five laid off for budget reasons from the Riverbank Unified School District.
Changes in enrollment are difficult to estimate until classroom aides have done "a warm body count" during the first week of school but the classes will be "pretty big", Taylor added.
Over the vacation teachers have been offered a lot of professional development classes that wrapped up earlier this week. Tomorrow, Thursday, Superintendent of Schools Ken Geisick is due to address all the teachers gathered at Riverbank High. Friday will be a furlough day. But many teachers, as usual, are already in their classrooms preparing for Monday's influx of students.
Summer school for students during the last few months was spread between basic math and English academic classes held mornings at Riverbank High, the more recreational ACTION Project group meeting at Cardozo Middle and kindergarten readiness groups at California Avenue Elementary.
Workmen were rushing this week to finish all the cleaning, repair and repainting jobs necessary for the opening of school. The work included installation of new play equipment at Mesa Verde School both in the elementary and kindergarten playgrounds.
Opening times are all around 8 a.m. but staggered to accommodate bus schedules. The actual bell times are 8 a.m. at Riverbank High and Adelante High, 8:07 a.m. at Rio Altura and California Elementary, 8:15 a.m. at Cardozo Middle and 8:19 a.m. at Mesa Verde Elementary.
"We're looking forward to a great year," said Susan Taylor, assistant superintendent of schools for educational services. "We've had staff workshops in math and English language arts during the vacation. The sixth grade will be going to self-contained classrooms (as in elementary schools). We're working on a K-12 writing curriculum."
The schools have three new teachers, all at Riverbank Language Academy located on the Rio Altura campus. They include one teacher hired from among the five laid off for budget reasons from the Riverbank Unified School District.
Changes in enrollment are difficult to estimate until classroom aides have done "a warm body count" during the first week of school but the classes will be "pretty big", Taylor added.
Over the vacation teachers have been offered a lot of professional development classes that wrapped up earlier this week. Tomorrow, Thursday, Superintendent of Schools Ken Geisick is due to address all the teachers gathered at Riverbank High. Friday will be a furlough day. But many teachers, as usual, are already in their classrooms preparing for Monday's influx of students.
Summer school for students during the last few months was spread between basic math and English academic classes held mornings at Riverbank High, the more recreational ACTION Project group meeting at Cardozo Middle and kindergarten readiness groups at California Avenue Elementary.
Workmen were rushing this week to finish all the cleaning, repair and repainting jobs necessary for the opening of school. The work included installation of new play equipment at Mesa Verde School both in the elementary and kindergarten playgrounds.
