New school year begins for JMCSS students
JACKSON, Tenn. — Students in one of West Tennessee’s largest districts are returning to school.
For some, this is their first year of school.
Arlington Elementary opened its doors to children grades pre-kindergarten to fifth grade.
For pre-k students, this is their first time in a school setting. Arlington starts the week off by allowing groups of five or fewer into the classroom for pre-k and kindergarten students.
With this system, teachers are able to test students on skills that they may already know, so they can later see their growth.
New JMCSS pre-k teacher, Jamaica Kirby, shared more.
“I’m looking forward to mostly building relationships with all the families here. I’m new to the county, the district, and everything, so I’m really, really excited to make a difference in a new place,” said Kirby.
Next week, teachers will have a full classroom. For some students, the summer was eventful, and they may still be in vacation mode. This may create some obstacles for the new school year, but Kirby shares how she’ll solve this problem.
“You know how to cope with their feelings; that’s the biggest thing in pre-k is, you know, I want to play with this, but then this teaching them how to share and get along with others and getting used to being in an environment with other children ’cause some of them are never around other kids,” said Kirby.
It also takes teamwork to have the school year go smoothly. For some teachers, they ask for a little help from families.
“That’s always the fun part because most of the time they ask for a phone or a tablet, so it’s very important to show them that you can be hands-on with things and have so much more fun than you can have on a tablet. So that’s why I let them go to centers and try out everything first before they want to go where they want to go,” said Kirby.
Overall, teachers at Arlington are excited to meet their students and get back into the groove of things.
Pre-k and kindergarten students will have their first full week beginning on August 14.
Find more local news here.
