Twin Rivers students kicked off the new school year Tuesday

Twin Rivers students kicked off the new school year Tuesday, with their first semester of four-day-a-week classes.

Cars and buses were lined up early at the Fisk campus, where student numbers continue to grow, according to Superintendent Rob Brown, who is also in his first year with the district.

Twin Rivers had a total of 849 students as of Tuesday afternoon, with Broseley and Qulin campuses having seen a slight dip in the new year.

“I think we’ve had several kids move out of the district,” said Brown. “It’s been a trend for the past couple years, not a huge chunk or huge percentage at once. It has been a slow decline, more so at Qulin and in the high school.

“It seems like we keep growing at Fisk with the boom of housing at the lake.”

Brown visited all three campuses Tuesday, starting at Qulin at 7:15 a.m. He made his way to the high school at Broseley and then to Fisk, spending about 45 minutes at each campus,

“It was a successful day,” Brown said. “Everything was good this morning. Transportation, that’s always the first one. You’ve got new kids, you’re always worried someone might not be out there in time. Then we switched to the four-day schedule with a little bit earlier starting time. So transportation was a big focus.”

There were a few issues, but only minor ones.

“I saw a lot of good organization; a lot of good, engaged, excited kids,” Brown said. “Teachers are in a good mood.”

Fisk Principal Christina Miller and other staff members and teachers greeted the students at her campus. The buses dropped off elementary and middle school students and collected students heading to the high school at Broseley. Some students who live in Fisk walked to school.

While many were eager to return to class and visit friends they missed during the break, some of the kindergarten students were not certain about the first day of classes.

At Fisk, teachers and school administrators directed the pupils to the gymnasium first, where bleachers were marked with teachers’ names.

Kindergarten students were the first to proceed to their classrooms, marked Listening Lane and Win-Win Way.

Kayla Wombles of Listening Lane helped the students place backpacks in cubicles and reminded each where their names were located at the work tables. As Wombles helped her tykes prepare for breakfast, across the hall Samantha Chamberlain was helping her 15 students find their cubbies, seats and prepare for their food, too.

The younger students ranged from excited to not quite certain what was going on. In one class, the youngsters were eager to see if the bright red apple would help a classmate’s loose tooth come out.

Teachers had a variety of activities planned for the day to help students settle in and get to know their new environments.