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Mt. Pleasant Community School District makes transition to grade-alike elementary schools
The biggest hurdle of transportation appears to be running well
MT. PLEASANT — The first day of school was a little different in the Mt. Pleasant Community School District this year as elementary students no longer attend neighborhood schools, but instead grade-alike schools throughout the town.
Superintendent John Henriksen says the transition has gone very well thanks to good strategic planning. Over the summer, the district prepared for this switch by working with the Director of Building and Grounds Chad Venghaus to transition the buildings themselves.
“Teachers had lots of good time to get their rooms put together, but the one thing we were really waiting on to see how it would work was transportation,” Henriksen said. “We made good plans, we just needed to execute them.”
While Henriksen said they weren’t exactly sure how well transportation would run until they actually implemented the plans, communicating played an important role in preparing.
Students from kindergarten through fifth grade showed up to Lincoln, Van Allen, Harlan, Mt. Pleasant Middle School, and the Wooden Park to grab their shuttles to their appropriate grade-alike schools Friday morning, and Harlan Elementary Principal Katie Sands says it went great.
“The shuttles are actually running really well,” Sands said. “We have kids that are waiting here that go to Van Allen or go to Lincoln and they just wait in the morning. They’re already getting into the routine that when their bus shows up they know where to walk on the sidewalk and line up and what to do. It’s going really well.”
Henriksen echoed Sands’ sentiments that transportation has gone really well so far.
“We are moving a lot of kids,” Henriksen said. “People have really taken advantage of the shuttle bus system between buildings, both morning and afternoon, and we are moving a lot of kids from their hoe neighborhoods to the school that they are attending.”
While the transition has gone well from the beginning, Henriksen says it has only gotten better with the following few days of school. According to him, they continue to tweak exact spots for pick up and drop offs to make transportation run even smoother every day.
Henriksen says he is grateful for the way everyone has worked with the school district and extended patience as they get everything sorted for this new school system.
After a change to grade-alike this year, Harlan is now the attendance center for preschool and kindergarten students in Mt. Pleasant, though, Sands say the preschoolers won’t report to school until next week.
Students in first and second grade take the shuttles or are dropped off for classes at Lincoln Elementary. Van Allen educates third through fifth-graders for the district.
Despite neighborhood elementary schools being a thing of the past, Mt. Pleasant High School football team members stopped by their former neighborhood schools to welcome the young scholars back to school Friday. Harlan, Van Allen, Lincoln, and Salem all received visits from the players who eagerly gave high-fives, visited with former teachers, and played with students on the playground before the morning bell.
Henriksen says he is happy to hear from all the schools, including the middle school and high school that the year is off to a great start.
Comments: AnnaMarie.Kruse@southeastiowaunion.com
