It starts Aug. 13. The dawn of a new school year for Lakeland public school students at three school campuses.
And with the start of the 2018-19 school year come changes at Lakeland Elementary School (LES – K-4) and LMPS (Lakeland Middle Preparatory School (LMPS – 5-8) plus new programs at AHS (Arlington High School 9-12).
Lakeland students attend AHS as part of an interlocal agreement until a high school is built in Lakeland.
Active construction projects within the Lakeland School System (LSS) total $7 million, according to Dr. Ted Horrell, LSS superintendent. This includes football and soccer fields at LMPS and classroom expansion and renovation at LES.
Also new this year is a webpage for LSS, https://lakelandk12.org/ and a new reminder link for parents, Remind.com, https://lakelandk12.org/sign-up-for-remind-com-to-stay-in-touch/ .
“We updated the website for several reasons. One, it was a component of the LSS five-year strategic plan to improve communication for the district. Second, we felt the navigation of the previous site needed improvement for clarity and ease for the users. Third, we have developed a number of forms and procedures since the original site was developed, and we wanted to start from scratch with an organizational structure that fit the needs of our resources,” said Dr. Horrell.
In 2018-19, Lakeland School System will be utilizing Remind.com as a way to remind parents and community members about upcoming events or opportunities. It will also be another way for teachers to conveniently stay in touch with parents and students in their classes, according to Dr. Horrell.
“We added three new general ed teaching positions at LMPS based on enrollment projections. We also created a new District EIS/Skyward Operator position that will work with the attendance operators at both schools.”
For 2018-19 LSS is expecting 1,650 students with 900 at LES and 750 at LMPS, said Dr. Horrell. The annual general fund budget is $14.2 million. There should be approximately 672 Lakeland students at Arlington High School (AHS), according to internal projections, said Dr. Horrell.
“Our year-end Average Daily Membership for LES was 891, and for LMPS was 720,” said Dr. Horrell of 2017-18 enrollment figures.
LSS and AHS teachers returned Wednesday (8.1.18) and registration for all students is Tuesday (8.7.18). The first day for students is Aug. 13, with a staggered week for kindergarten. The first football game for LMPS is Aug. 14 against Crestview Middle School in Covington, TN. And the first school holiday is for Labor Day, Sept. 3.
AHS has Student Enrollment Verification Tuesday and classes start Aug. 13.
Tyler Hill, communications coordinator for Arlington Community Schools (ACS), said final enrollment figures at AHS last school year were 2,008. Current numbers for 2018-19 are 1,983, but are likely to change, he added.
LMPS
The athletic fields project includes
- Artificial turf football field with lights
- Regular turf soccer field with lights
- New drive and parking lot
- Concessions building, restrooms and a storage building
Dr. Horrell said the hope is to have some of the end of the season LMPS football games on the home field.
Money to build the fields comes from $3+ million in excess funds left from bond proceeds on building the Middle School in 2017.
LES
- New secure main entrance
- Parking lot work
- Cell tower behind the school
Pavement and sod are being removed on the west side of the school to make way for 12 classrooms and office space. The cafeteria will also be expanded.
It’s all part of a $2.7 million project to upgrade the K-4 school and provide more space for students. The budgeted amount for the work, which included eight classrooms, was $3 million. There was an additional bid of $347K for four more classrooms. Because the bid was under the $3 million budget, four more classrooms were added to the project. The classrooms, office space and cafeteria expansion is projected to be finished in February.
“We are very excited about the 2018-19 school year and the opportunity to establish continuity and build on the successes of our first year as a two-school system,” said Dr. Horrell.
“There was a tremendous amount of ‘newness’ last year as we had many new students, many new teachers, new grade spans at the schools, new instructional materials and new technology. The teachers and staff did a phenomenal job making all of this ‘newness’ work for our students and went above and beyond to establish new traditions and expectations quickly.
“Now, we can look at last year as a baseline year in many areas, and focus on the continual improvement in all areas that our students deserve and our parents expect.”
The site plan for the cell tower was approved by the City of Lakeland in July 2016. The Lakeland School Board (LSB) approved the cell tower to be built on school grounds in September 2015. The minimum revenue for the cell tower is $18,000, according to Dr. Horrell. “And we get a percentage of income from any additional carriers that are added.”
Joretha Lockhart, LES principal, explained visitors to the school this year will enter via the eastern most front or right door and be buzzed into one area. Then, after being cleared, will go through a second door before being allowed to enter the main school. Donna McConnell is the school receptionist and will greet visitors as they enter the new doorways. All the doors across the front of the school will be available for exiting the building, she said.
Of the new paving and striping in the parking lots, Mrs. Lockhart said it looks “Awesome, so clean.” She is excited to start a new school year, noting, “I love the beginning of school. It’s almost magical, seeing all the smiles on the faces of the children.”
AHS
There are no construction projects that will impact students, according to Mr. Hill. “Over the summer, we did update seating in the auditorium.
“We also have several new programs available to our students this year. We have two new academies: PAVE Fine Arts and the Arlington Collegiate Academy. These academies allow our students to go more in-depth and gain more experience in these fields. We’re excited to see where they’ll take the programs this year!
“We are also launching a Pre-Nursing course this semester, which is a dual-enrollment class taught by UT Martin. Additionally, we have partnered with the TN College of Technology to instruct our welding course. Finally, we’ve added a Level 4 STEM class, which is pretty incredible as many schools do not offer this.”
Although early, he said there are plans to construct a new indoor athletic facility at the high school for the 2019-2020 school year. “No further information is available on this since it’s still early in the process. We’re looking forward to a great year!”
Google album: https://photos.app.goo.gl/QdaVTs9FjxgDdja2A
… Photos by Jim Willis, Lakeland Currents.
