“It’s grow time,” said Neelyville special education instructor Sandi Telker. “That is our motto this year. We are looking forward to growing in our MAP scores and our achievements.”
Neelyville schools kicked off the 2022-2023 school year Wednesday without a hitch, according to school officials.
It marked the first day not only for students, but for two administrators serving in new roles, Heather Black as superintendent and Patrick Morton as Neelyville Elementary principal.
“We’re excited for this year. We have a good group of teachers back with us again, several veteran teachers, and we’re excited to see what the year holds,” said Morton.
According to Morton the enrollment this year at Neelyville is about the same as it has been in previous years.
“Everyone is trying to move past the pandemic and get everything back in order, so we’re looking for a pretty normal year and praying we can keep the COVID bug away,” said Morton. “We got through the first morning smooth and we’re are going to just keep trucking.”
For Black, this is her 10th year in the district, but first as superintendent.
“We are looking forward to a great year getting back to routines for students,” said Black. “We haven’t had any major bus changes or anything so school is going to move forward as normal and we’re looking forward to an exciting year.”
Neelyville third grade student Emily Duckett said, “I think the best part of today will be having fun with my friends and lunch,” to which third-grader Collins Wolfram gave an approving nod and a big smile.
Hillview Elementary kindergarten teacher Celia McNece had her students quietly coloring in the classroom early Wednesday morning.
“I was really nervous this morning, but now I’m excited,” said one kindergarten student with a beaming smile.
Another student chimed in saying, “I missed mom so much I wanted to stay home, but this time I didn’t.”
There were no tears shed in McNece’s class, with students appearing eager to socialize and learn.
Melissa Arrington, Neelyville third grade math and science teacher, said, “We are ready for a new year and a fresh start. We have worked really hard over the summer to get everything set up. We have several updates and improvements to the campus. We have a new superintendent — she is doing an amazing job, we have a new elementary principal who is doing wonderful and we’re are ready to get this year kicked off and get going.”