It's that time of year again: Back to School! Monday, Aug. 28, 2017, will be the first day for most of the schools in the Cleveland County School System (CCS). After a summer break of almost 11 weeks, the big day will arrive, whether students welcome or dread it.
Actually, some CCS students will have already been in class for several weeks by then. Students at the Early College started on Aug. 9, and the all-new Advanced Manufacturing Academy participants have their first day of class on Aug. 14. But Graham Elementary School has them all beat - they began the new school year on July 17, 2017. Of course, Graham is the CCS's only year-round school.
But regardless of when the first school bell rings, approximately 15,000 students will be in their classes by Aug. 28, 2017. More than 1,000 teachers will be teaching this year at 29 different schools across the county. These teachers and students will be joined by 1,500+ principals, secretaries, food professionals and other support personnel. That's a lot of folks heading back to school!
To assist in getting the students to and from their classrooms, more than 170 bright yellow school buses will be rolling down the roads, starting at 6:05 a.m. each school day.
"We just urge people to be patient - that's true throughout the year - but especially on these first days and weeks of school," says David Pless, director of transportation for CCS. "There are new drivers and new kids, so we just need folks to leave a little earlier and allow plenty of time to get to their destination so that a stopped school bus won't cause a problem for them."
And if you are wondering how your summer break can possibly be over when it seems like it just started, remember that it's only 180 school days until 2018's summer break begins.
For more information about the CCS, visit the system's web site at
www.clevelandcountyschools.org or search for "Cleveland County Schools" on Facebook.

By April Hoyle Shauf

Special to Community First Media