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NASD summer break extended

Published 12:06am Friday, May 18, 2012

NATCHEZ — Some students’ summer just got a little longer.

In order to accommodate the moving and shaking of grade levels and campuses within the Natchez-Adams School District, the 2012-2013 school year will begin Aug. 20 rather than Aug. 1 at all public schools.

The schools will also lose a fall break holiday next school year and remain in school until May 31, 2013, to accommodate the extended summer vacation.

At a specially called meeting of the Natchez-Adams School Board Thursday, Assistant Superintendent Morris Stanton said the start date was pushed back to allow for more time to settle supplies and equipment into their respective new campuses.

“(District employees will use) a couple of extra weeks to get everything in place to have a smooth transition,” Stanton said.

Also, the names of some of the schools have changed, but the Natchez-Adams School Board voted to keep the changes simple.

The school board voted to change the names of West Primary School to West Elementary School; Frazier Primary School to Frazier Elementary School; and Morgantown Elementary School to Morgantown Middle School.

The board voted at their May 10 meeting to reorganize grade levels at most schools.

When the 2012-2013 school year arrives, West Elementary, Frazier Elementary and McLaurin Elementary will all serve students in pre-kindergarten through fifth grade.

Previously, West Primary served pre-K and kindergarten, Frazier Primary served first and second grade and McLaurin Elementary served third and fourth grade.

Morgantown will now serve sixth through eighth grade; it used to serve fifth and sixth grade. The former Robert Lewis Middle School will close during the 2012-2013 school year to be renovated as a magnet school.

The administration is currently working on and is close to making school assignments for elementary students based on residential their locations, Interim Superintendent Joyce Johnson said Thursday after the meeting.

She said the administration is still working on assignments for principals and teachers, and those decisions could possibly be completed next week.

Additionally, Board President Wayne Barnett said the board has not yet confirmed the name of the new superintendent, but a public announcement will soon be made on the matter.

Johnson said parents with elementary-aged children in the district will be notified of their children’s school assignment by letter, through the newspaper and through the district’s parent connection website.

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  • Anonymous

    So happy to see that the board is making moves in the right direction! The beginning of August was just way too early and too hot to start school! I hope the school district adopts this policy permanently! 

  • http://profiles.google.com/everette.roberts Everette Roberts

    What a mess.  The public schools in Adams county will never be as good as they were in the years prior to 1990.  You can shuffle them or rename them but they are still unfit.

  • http://www.natchezdemocrat.com khakirat

    Why can’t they wait till the day after Labor day to begin school to save energy??!! The extention will cause some of the students to get into serious troubles on the streets! Adams county needs to elect a school board and elect the superintinent as well ASAP!!!

  • Anonymous

    Not much energy will be saved this year, the teachers will be setting up their “new” classrooms and will need the A/C running full strength to get that done.

  • Anonymous

    I think it sounds great! Now it will be my grandson affected instead of my children who had to attend all over the county. Great change!!

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