Buildings will be packed as school year starts

New Prague schools are scheduled to open for the 2005-06 school year Thursday, Sept. 1.

As the final week of August arrived, school officials, teachers and staff members were busy preparing for the coming school year. Administrators were registering new students and finding places for them in already-crowded classrooms, teachers were setting up those classrooms and preparing lesson plans for the first days of the school year and custodians, technicians and other staff members were putting the finishing touches on summer-time projects, making sure the buildings were ready for the onslaught of students.

New teachers began orientation and workshops last week, while the full staff began their school year Monday, with a continental breakfast and a program welcoming them to the school year.

Each building has set a theme for the school year, but throughout the district, the common theme is growth. The district recently began construction on a new 700-student elementary school on the west side of New Prague and within the month is expected to break ground on a similar building in New Market. The new buildings will help ease crowded conditions at the current primary, intermediate and middle schools. When completed in January, 2007, the two new buildings and the current primary building will house K-5 students, the current intermediate building will house students in grade 6 along with special programming and district offices, and the middle school, which currently houses grades 6-8, will get some breathing room as the sixth graders move across the street.

New Prague High School is expecting 1,085 students to enter its doors on Thursday. That number exceeds the 1,050 capacity of the building that opened in 1998. The New Prague Area School Board is expected to decide at its September 12 meeting whether to ask for an addition to the building in a referendum in November.

Doig said the building is out of conventional classroom space and any added needs will require the creative use of unused space in the building.

Still registering

With the start of school less than two days away, families new to the district were still registering for classes. As of 3 p.m. Tuesday, 16 new students were registered this week, with more expected as the school year starts. Officials said they expected new families would be coming in for at least a week after the start of classes getting their children registered, and it was common for some students to show up at the open houses not having registered for classes.

In addition to the 1085 at the high school (grades 9-12), the middle school (6-8) expects 731 students, the intermediate school (3-5) expects 688 and the primary school (K-2) expected 736.

High school centennial

New Prague High School is observing its 100th anniversary this school year. Principal Tom Doig said the school is beginning its 101st year Thursday and will graduate its 100th class next June.

A Century of Excellence is the theme for the year, and a committee of teachers, students and others are planning special events for the year. Banners are being placed in the school and at the high school football field and pamphlets about the school will be distributed at the Dozinky parade September 17.

Doig said the school is looking for people who have artifacts and memorabilia from the school for a display next May. Also, the school will have T-shirts with the school’s centennial logo.

Private schools

St. Wenceslaus School in New Prague will also open for the year on Thursday. School officials say there are 376 students registered as of Tuesday.

Holy Cross School, serving Catholic parishes in Lonsdale, New Market and Veseli, will open the doors to a new school year and a new school building on Tuesday, Sept. 6.

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