All across the Riverbank community, students from kindergarten through high school returned to their campuses this past week, as classes for the 2022-23 school year began.
School resumed at Mesa Verde and California Elementary schools, the Riverbank Language Academy, Cardozo Middle School, and Adelante and Riverbank High schools on Thursday, Aug. 4, starting up the new year.
“So far, the school year has started off great. We knew coming into this year that we would be dealing with changes to our routines with our new start time and bell schedule and that it would take everyone a little while to adjust, but I honestly expected much more chaos than what we’ve actually experienced,” noted Riverbank High School Principal Greg Diaz. “This start to the school year has been the closest thing to a typical pre-pandemic opening that we have had since 2019. It’s great to see the energy of the students and staff, and it’s going to be a great year here at RHS.”
Riverbank students in the Sylvan Union School District, living in the southwest section of town, attend Crossroads Elementary, Somerset and Ustach Middle schools in Modesto and Modesto high schools. They started class on Monday this week, Aug. 8.
The RUSD teachers were back in their classrooms prior to the arrival of students, tidying things up and getting them ready for this first day, so they were ready to hit the ground running.
Before the start of school, parents and school buses dropped off students, with many of them rushing off to breakfast before that first bell rang.
At Cardozo Middle School, on Santa Fe Street in downtown Riverbank, those arriving were welcomed back by improvements to the street and curbs in front of the school.
The several week project to put in new curbs and gutters, along with new Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) standard curb cutouts to assist the visually impaired with crossing the street.
The roadway was resurfaced, as well, and that necessitated repainting all the roadway lines, including the crosswalks. Luckily, the last drop of paint was sprayed on the lines on Wednesday, Aug. 3, the day before classes resumed.
With students back on campus, the Back-To-School events were set for this week in the RUSD.
Monday, Aug. 8 they were slated at Adelante High School campus; and on Tuesday, Aug. 9, hosted at Mesa Verde and California Avenue school campuses.
For the Riverbank Language Academy, Back-To-School night is Wednesday evening, Aug. 10, along with Cardozo Middle School; Riverbank High School’s event is scheduled for Thursday, Aug. 11.
News Reporter Virginia Still contributed to this story.
