Southern Indiana students prepare to go back to school

When most Southern Indiana students begin the school year later this week, they'll likely notice more school leadership changes than policy or schedule changes.

Most public students in Clark, Floyd and Harrison counties, as well as the Rock Creek Academy charter school in Sellersburg, return to school Thursday. South Harrison Community Schools' first day is Wednesday, while North Harrison and Community Montessori charter school in New Albany start Aug. 7.

There will be new faces at several schools.

Clarksville Community Schools

Clarksville Community School Corp. will officially begin classes in a new school on Thursday.

Student enrollment there declined to 1,327 students last year, more than an 8 percent drop since the 2009-10 school year, according to Indiana Department of Education data.

With the state's open-enrollment policy, Clarksville is hoping to attract more area students starting this year with the opening of its New Tech Network school, Renaissance Academy. The $5.2 million first phase of construction is nearly complete with principal Brian Allred at the helm for its first freshman class.

Dan Butler assumes Allred's former post as principal of Clarksville High School after serving as assistant principal at the school the past two years. Audrey Jackson is the new assistant principal.

District officials anticipate soon naming a new principal of Clarksville Middle School. Nikki Bullington is beginning her second year as assistant middle school principal.

There are no other major changes, said district spokeswoman Nikolette Langdon.

Greater Clark County Schools

Greater Clark enrollment grew by about 20 students last year after slipping about 4 percent between the 2009-10 and the 2012-13 school years. It had 10,553 students last year.

The first day for students is Thursday.

The main leadership changes there include: Michelle Dyer, the former principal at Pleasant Ridge Elementary, is now principal of River Valley Middle School; Michael Denny, the former principal of River Valley Middle School, now serves as the district's college and career readiness coordinator; Sara Porter, a former classroom teacher at Wilson Elementary, is now principal of Pleasant Ridge Elementary; and Amber Cook is now the principal of Maple Elementary, succeeding Lauraetta Starks, who will retire Aug. 1.

District spokeswoman Erin Bojorquez said the district has no new initiatives this year, planning instead to focus heavily on others started to help meet new state standards for college and career readiness and its one-to-one computing initiative that began last fall with all students in grades 3-12 receiving Google Chromebooks.

"Our main focus continues to be increasing student achievement and for all students to graduate and be accepted to a post-secondary opportunity. To accomplish that mission, it is essential that each student becomes highly proficient in reading, writing, math, and college and career ready skills," Bojorquez said.

Chromebooks will be rolled out starting Aug. 7 this year. But first students will learn about care for the device, responsible use and cyberbullying.

New Albany-Floyd County Schools

New Albany-Floyd County enrollment has decreased nearly 5 percent since the 2009-10 school year, but it remained Southern Indiana's largest school district last year with 11,307 students.

Students return Thursday.

Three new elementary school principals will assume their duties this year: Wendy Ivey, Greenville Elementary; Brian Kehrer, Green Valley Elementary; and Mike Losey, Floyds Knobs Elementary.

Bill Briscoe, assistant to Superintendent Bruce Hibbard for administration and operations, said interactive Smartboards and audio systems have been installed for teachers to use in every K-4 classroom. The boards, which previously were added at Highland Hills Middle School, also are being installed this year at Hazelwood and Scribner Middle Schools. A language arts coach has been placed at each middle school to assist in reading group techniques and literacy initiatives.

At New Albany and Floyd Central high schools, Briscoe said the focus this year is mainly on core instruction. "We are implementing three major strategies to meet this goal," he said.

Both high schools will use a student engagement coach to try and get students more interested in learning.

The district is implementing Rigorous Curriculum Design Units in all subject areas to align curriculum with new state standards for reading and math, as well as other state standards for other subjects.

And all high school teachers will participate in a yearlong professional development program on how to best use electronic devices to engage students in the classroom. The program is being introduced to teachers this year to prepare them for students who will be bringing their own web-enabled devices to the high schools during the 2015-16 school year.

South Harrison Community Schools

New South Harrison Superintendent Mark Eastridge, the former superintendent at Crawford County Community School Corporation, isn't the only new face in the county's largest school district.

There are two other new administrators, including Michael Key, director of transportation, and Tami Geltmaker, the new director of curriculum, instruction and assessment. Also, Sue Lanham, a former language arts teacher at South Central Junior/Senior High School, is now assistant principal at the same school.

The district's enrollment was 3,127 last year, up 15 students from the previous year but down just over 2 percent since the 2010-11 school year.

Wednesday is the students' first day back.

West Clark Community Schools

Tom Brillhart is the new principal at Silver Creek Elementary School in Sellersburg after serving in the same position at Jackson Elementary School in Seymour. Brillhart replaces David Losey, who retired after serving as Silver Creek Elementary principal for 34 years.

Enrollment has increased about 13 percent from the 2009-10 school year until last year, when the district had 4,755 students. Because of recent growth, the district created a new assistant principal position at Silver Creek High School that was filled by Amy Gilbert, a former teacher, coach and dean of students at Jeffersonville High School.

West Clark's first day for students is Thursday.

District Superintendent Monty Schneider said the only other major change is that its schools in Borden, Henryville and Sellesburg will only have a single afternoon release of buses. Previously, a first wave of buses was released before the rest.

Reporter Charlie White can be reached at (812) 949-4026 or on Twitter @c_write.

MORE INFO

Information regarding school calendars, bus and school day schedules, lunch prices, policies and other back to school information can be found online at www.courier-journal.com/news/education/