The Woodward News

Local News

August 1, 2012

Area schools prep for upcoming year

Brandi Thomas Woodward News

Woodward, Okla. — Fargo and Gage are among the area schools prepping for the start of the school year.

Enrollment continues through today at Fargo from 8 p.m. to 4 p.m. for all students. The first day of school is Aug. 9.

Superintendent, Terry Stevens said things have been busy in Fargo this summer, including putting a new finish on the gym floor and new carpet in the entry to the elementary and the hiring of 2 new teachers.

"We are also getting prepared for our $14 million bond issues that will be up for vote on Aug. 27," Stevens said.

According to Stevens, the bonds will allow the district to expand and build a new main building for the school.

"This summer has gone so fast, it is not even funny," Stevens said.

Stevens is looking forward to the future and is excited about everything that has been done so far.

"With the transition to the common core our teachers will have a lot on their plate this year, it will be difficult, but we are ready for it," he said. "I think it will be a good year, we have a great bunch of kids and we want to grow and we are very excited about this bond."

Gage

Gage will be holding enrollment on Aug. 9 at the high school and their first day of school is Aug. 16.

Superintendent Greg Gregory said it has been a busy summer around the school.

"We bought a mobile home for one of our new teachers, replaced the cafeteria floor and are still taking bids for a new roof on our main building," Gregory said.

There was also hosted a summer reading camp, where they had 2 teachers come in just after school let out to help students with their reading skills, he said.

"We had a great turnout for this reading program which the kids were tested at the end of it, but I have not seen the results of those tests to see if everyone improved or not," Gregory said.

The summer always seems to fly by for Gregory, and with having to fill some new positions, he said that made it go even faster.

"We've had combined grade school classes in the past, which was something I was never fond of, so this year we split the classes up," Gregory said.

So far Gage has hired 3 new teachers and is still looking for 1 more.

"With the classes separated out now, the teachers will be able to spend more time helping the students who need that extra help," Gregory said. "Which will be a plus when the common core takes place."

Gregory said that this is going to be a changing year with lots of challenges.

"I'm looking forward to the common core, it will make the teachers get more in depth in their instruction," Gregory said. "The strain that will fall on me will be the new teacher evaluations."

With all of the changes that are coming down from the state, Gregory said, "It is amazing how the small schools figure out how to get it done with what little we got."

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