So long summer: R-II students return for new year
TONY BROWN/DAILY FORUM
Fourth-graders Emma Nolte, left, and Nyah Davis were fashion forward in denim and bright, summery flower prints on the first day of classes Thursday at Eugene Field Elementary School. Both girls had their digital cameras at the ready to record all the excitement at the beginning of their final year as elementary students before moving on to Maryville Middle School.
With crisp, new clothes and shining faces — some smiling and some looking a little anxious — more than 500 youngsters in preschool through fourth grade marched into Eugene Field Elementary School Thursday morning for the first day of the 2016-2017 academic year.
Maryville Middle School and Maryville High School resumed classes Thursday as well, as did most other public schools in Nodaway County. St. Gregory’s School began the fall semester on Wednesday and Horace Mann Laboratory School on the campus of Northwest Missouri State University starts its new year on Aug. 29.
R-II Assistant Superintendent Steve Klotz said Thursday that final numbers won’t be available until next week but that total district enrollment stands around 1,400 students, or about the same as last year.
Klotz added that the annual summer round of repairs and maintenance projects proceeded satisfactorily on all three of the district’s campuses, and that classrooms and other facilities were in good shape as students returned to their desks.
“It has gone really well,” he said. “Our (maintenance staff) has done a tremendous amount of work, especially at the high school because of the new construction.”
Contractor crews are almost finished with a long-awaited performing arts center at MHS and have started pouring concrete footings for a combined second gymnasium and emergency shelter largely funded with a grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
Construction dust, traffic through the building, and blocked access to parts of the facility posed a challenge for workers conducting routine maintenance, Klotz said, but as students arrived on Thursday the job was done.
In conjunction with the two new buildings, the high school is also moving forward with plans to open an expanded weight-training area in the former industrial arts shop, probably in late October after the new auditorium is completed.
Klotz said district officials and the performing art center general contractor would likely participate in a “punch list” inspection of the facility in a few days, but that full use of the theater by students and staff is probably still several weeks away.
Physical changes are also in the offing at Eugene Field, where completion of a new kitchen and cafeteria last year opened up space in the old dining area, which has yet to be repurposed.
Klotz said the former kitchen is being renovated into a new custodial office, but that district officials are still trying to decide what to do with the rest of the area, which remains furnished with its long tables and benches.
R-II administrators have been talking about what to do with the space, but no decisions have yet been made. Klotz said options include creating additional classrooms, adding more meeting space for faculty and staff, eventually incorporating the space into a reconfigured classroom layout, or adding to existing pre-school facilities.
For a number of years, Eugene Field offered a single full-day preschool option along with a half-day program covering either a full week or selected days at the family’s option.
Due to parent demand, Klotz said, that format has shifted to two full-day preschool sections held five days a week and serving a maximum of 20 students each. If more space were available, it is possible the preschool program could see further expansion.
By TONY BROWN Staff writer
Maryville Public Safety Sergeant Rick Smail and Daren the D.A.R.E. Lion offered their traditional high-fives and hugs to students arriving Thursday for the first day of classes at Eugene Field Elementary School. The 2016-2017 academic year marks Smail’s 27th year of involvement with the drug-abuse resistance program as a commissioned Maryville police officer.
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Eugene Field Elementary School first graders line up in the school gymnasium before heading upstairs for their first day of classes. More than 500 students will attend Eugene Field this year as part of a total R-II School District student population of around 1,400 students.
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Children head upstairs to class Thursday at the beginning of a new academic year at Eugene Field Elementary School.
TONY BROWN/DAILY FORUM
Fourth-grade teacher Jessica Braymen welcomes her students at the beginning of first hour Thursday at Eugene Field Elementary School.
TONY BROWN/DAILY FORUM
Josh McKim left, is best known around town as executive director of Nodaway County Economic Development. But on Thursday he had a more important job — being Dad and taking his son Jonah to Eugene Field Elementary School for Jonah’s first day as a second grader.
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Reagan Davis, 5, poses with a framed certificate celebrating her first day of school as a Eugene Field Elementary kindergartner. Reagan is the daughter of Mike and Gina Davis of Maryville.
