TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

New School Year Brings A New School - Memorial Elementary

ADVERTISEMENT

MARC VALERO

Highlands Today

Published: August 15, 2008

AVON PARK - It's red, white and blue and new - it's Memorial Elementary School, the School Board of Highlands County's first brand new school since 1996.

The district's 17th school is located at 861 Memorial Drive, Avon Park, just north of Ravine Road.

Parents and students can meet the teachers and see the school during orientation, which will be held 4:30 - 6:30 p.m., Aug. 15.

Principal Ruby Handley said instead of holding the orientation on the Thursday before school starts, as is customary, it was decided to give teachers one more day to prepare so it's being held on a Friday.

Parents and visitors should enter the school by taking Ravine Road, which provides access to the southwest entrance/exit of the campus.

Starting on the first day of school on Aug. 18, parents can drop off their children starting around 7:20 a.m. The tardy bell is at 7:40 a.m. and dismissal is at 2:00 p.m.

For those arriving early on the first day of school, Handley said, 'we'll be here."

Once inside the school building, follow the color to your destination.

Each hallway has a different color scheme: red for kindergarten, green for first- and second-grade, blue for third- and fourth-grade and yellow for fifth-grade.

Handley estimated that the school's enrollment will be between 560 to 600 students, but being a school choice option makes it difficult to narrow the estimate.

Under the Federal No Child Left Behind Act, school districts are required to offer transfer options for students who attend a school that is "in need of improvement."

Park Elementary School students can request a transfer to Avon or Memorial elementary schools.

Students attending Fred Wild, Sun 'N Lake or Woodlawn elementary schools can request a transfer to Memorial or Cracker Trail elementary schools.

Handley said the school will be staffed with 41 instructional staff, including 32 classroom teachers and 25 non-instructional staff members.

The school's phone number is 784-0200.
Transportation Director David Solomon said about 12 buses, including two exceptional student education buses, will transport students to and from the school.

"Just be patient for the first couple of days until everything is worked out," he said. "It looks like a pretty good plan; people have been working hard to make it happen; so it should go pretty nice the first couple of days and go better with time."

Marc Valero can be reached at 386-5826 or mvalero@highlandstoday.com

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT