Students in Washington Community School District prepared for first day of school

WASHINGTON - Just two days before school started at Lincoln Elementary School in Washington, Taylor Kemp and Kinley Miksch, fourth-graders, were decorating their lockers and preparing for the upcoming school year that began Friday, Aug. 23.

The girls were just two of many elementary aged students in the Washington Community School District who participated in the meet the teacher night on Wednesday, Aug. 21. While Kemp prefers math class, Miksch is looking forward to getting back into art and reading.

'I like art because it can take you to different places,” she said.

Fourth grade teacher at Lincoln, Lexa Mahr, is looking forward to her fourth year with the district. She has 22 students in her class this year, down from the 26 she had last year. The first day of school is an exciting time for her, she said, but like the kids, still get's the first day jitters.

'I would lie if I said I wasn't nervous, but it's a good nervous. More excited than nervous, for sure,” she said. 'I'm excited to just build relationships with my kids, find out what they like (and) build a connection with each other so that we're able to have the best learning environment, but also have a lot of fun.”

Kate Gonterman will be in Ms. Mahr's class this year and is looking forward to one thing in particular: seeing her friends.

'My friends are awesome,” she said with a laugh.

Lincoln Elementary Principal Teresa Beenblossom said although back to school is a hectic time for students, staff and parents, it's one of the best.

'It's exciting, it's just like when you're a kid and seeing all the new faces and all the new people (and) seeing all the kids be excited, it's my favorite time of year. I love it,” she said.

Lincoln Elementary has about 350 students in the school and has added about 15 new students this year. Looking forward into the school year, Beenblossom said she is most excited to see how their PBIS (positive behavior supports and interventions) program will grow.

The program was introduced three years ago after the school saw an uptick in office referrals. The idea behind the program is to improve social, emotional and academic outcomes for students.

'We're going to do some more outreach with PBIS and ... twice a month we're going to do PBIS assembles where we're really going to focus on being respectful, responsible and safe,” she said.

Across town at Stewart Elementary, principal Adam Miller is gearing up for his ninth year in the district. This year the school has about 550 students who can look forward to a year full of both academic learning and social skills learning as well.

'For our kindergarten and preschoolers that are new, we really try to get them started off on the right foot so we do a lot of things to try and make them feel comfortable here at school and try to build a community in the classroom with a family feel,” he said. 'For our first and second-graders, we do the same thing, but we also try to teach them how to be respectful, how to be responsible and how to be safe so that they can be more than just learners but also good citizens.”

As kiddos with backpacks full of supplies wandered the halls, they each entered different classrooms to anxiously greet their new teacher for the year. Cheyenne Burroughs, alternative kindergarten teacher at Stewart, knows that anxious feeling well.

For her seventh year at Stewart, she is most looking forward to getting back into the swing of things with her class of 17.

'It's fun to get back into it and see the excitement of the kids and start a new year. New friends, new classroom, new teachers. Especially for these guys, because for some of them, it's their first time coming to school,” she said.