By Jacklyn Ryan jryan@nebraska.tv Facebook / Twitter @NTVsJacklynRyan
Some Grand Island students are already zipping up their backpacks and sharpening their pencils, because Tuesday was their first day of school.
Over the next three years, four Grand Island schools are participating in a continuous
calendar. This pilot experiment has students and staff at Howard,
Jefferson, Starr and West Laws elementary going to school all year long.
"It's our first time having school in July, so we said were going to hit every season this year," Jefferson Principal Jeanna Fiala said.
But with summer only halfway done, some kids needed an extra push to get out of bed.
"We woke up my sister so she wouldn't make us late," first-grade student, Paulina, said.
Others have been preparing for this day for a while.
"I've been practicing my math facts and spelling," fourth-grader, Amber, said.
The schools hope this change will bring greater achievement to the district. At the end of the
experiment, the schools will evaluate how successful their results were.
On Tuesday, the attendance at Jefferson Elementary was surprising to staff members.
"We maybe expected more kids to not be here, just kind of forgetting or sleeping, but we've
had all but just a few of our kiddos," Fiala said.
Jefferson Elementary has 315 students and seven new teachers this school year.
