And so it begins. The inaugural year for LMPS (Lakeland Middle Preparatory School). It is the second and newest campus in the Lakeland School System (LSS) and opened to students today.
It was overcast outside this morning (8.7.17) but inside the 112,000-square-foot facility, parents, students and staff were all smiles: Staff greeting faculty, parents shepherding their children into the new building and students greeting their friends from last school year.
Cars were parked from the entrance of the school at 5020 Lions Crest Drive almost all the way to Canada Road.
Parents delivered their children to the main entrance and were welcomed by Kristi Gipson, medical and school secretary and Raina Laessig, the school nurse.
School buses entered from Old Brownsville Road and the nine general education buses started arriving at 7:50 a.m. Greeting the buses loaded with students in grades 5-8 were Chris Godwin, the LMPS athletic director; Kim Lynch, a resource teacher in exceptional learning; Rebecca Craig, an academic interventionist; and Michael Posey, a special education assistant. Two special education buses dropped students at the main entrance. Mr. Godwin said it will take a good week to work out the kinks of buses arriving.
A table in the foyer was staffed by Paula Turner, orchestra teacher, and Genny Kilpatrick, APEX gifted teacher, to help students who needed schedules. Classes at LMPS run from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.
School administrators scurried around the building, welcoming all to the $20 million school: Matt Adler, principal, Corrie Martin and Michael Kreeger, assistant principals.
Dr. Ted Horrell, LSS superintendent, said this morning he expects attendance at the middle school to be about 700 students. “LMPS was staffed for 620 students and 665 had registered by last Tuesday (8.1.17),” he said. “If everybody who registered in the spring and last Tuesday showed up, there would be 740 students at the middle school.” He said typically all who register in the spring do not return in the fall.
However, registration continued this morning. To the left of the main entrance, a line formed into the library as late registrations continued for the 2017-18 school year.
At the end of last week, Dr. Horrell issued a notice that five more teachers were to be hired — four for the middle school and one for Lakeland Elementary School (LES).
Dr. Horrell said, ideally, the newest teachers will be in place next Monday. In the meantime, homeroom classes are a little bigger this week. “You have four homerooms worth of students to distribute among the teachers,” he said.
Laura Harrison, Lakeland School Board vice chair, was on hand for opening day and noted all the new families headed into registration. She said it’s possible those students could increase the enrollment even more than the anticipated 700 students.
The new school site is part of 94-acres that will eventually hold not only the middle school but a future high school and a full collection of athletic facilities. There is no timetable for the completion of the high school or athletic facilities. Three years ago the middle school was just an idea and two years ago it was just a bunch of dirt. And the K-5 LES was 940 students. Upwards of 1,500 students should be enrolled in both schools for this year.
LMPS can be accessed by taking Canada Road just north of the intersection of Canada Road and U.S. Highway 70 and then turning right into the site on the newly constructed Campus Drive.
And what was for lunch on the first day at the new school? Ann Turner, cafeteria manager, said the menu includes hamburgers, cheeseburgers, French fries, carrots, apples, pears and assorted snacks.
South of the middle school and an hour later, cars were lined up around LES for the first day of classes which run from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Dr. Horrell said the school was staffed for 820 students. There were 795 students at the end of registration night (last Tuesday). Dr. Horrell noted that if all who registered last spring and last week came to LES, there could be 892 children. His estimate, however, is 850 students for this school year.
Located at 10050 Oak Seed Lane, LES was built in 2001 while still a part of the Shelby County School System and becomes a K-4 school this year with fifth graders a part of the new middle school.
First day traffic for both schools was not without a few frustrations along the construction corridor at Canada Road and Beverle Rivera Drive. Shelby County Sheriff’s Office deputies were monitoring traffic at the intersection and said there were no problems for parents heading to LMPS. However, by 9 a.m., traffic was stacked back to Huff N Puff Road with drivers waiting to access Canada Road.
Along with other municipalities in Shelby County, Lakeland formed its own school system when Memphis City Schools surrendered its charter and became Shelby County Schools.
Link to LMPS website: https://lakelandk12.org/lmps/
Link to LES website: https://lakelandk12.org/les/
Link to LSS website: https://lakelandk12.org/schools/
Link to Lakeland Currents photo album of the new school: https://lakelandcurrents.com/here-it-is-lmps-for-all-of-lakeland-to-see/
Link to photo album by Jim Willis, Lakeland Currents:
https://goo.gl/photos/Lx7MhRfpkdpWHECm6
