COLD SPRING, Ky. — While a lot of northern Kentucky kids won’t be going back to school until next week, the Campbell County School District welcomed students back for their first day of school Wednesday, as did many other districts across the state.
Everything seemed to go as smoothly as the staff at Crossroads Elementary School could’ve hoped for, as more than 600 students arrived Wednesday morning.
“I haven’t seen anybody cry yet, so that’s exciting,” said the school’s principal Dr. Kim Visse. Visse has been the principal at Crossroads since the school opened 16 years ago.
After all the challenges her school has had to overcome the last few years, Visse said “smooth” is a very good thing.
“We had desks in our cafeteria. No rugs in our rooms. And so when we were able to do that, it brought a lot of color back in. And we don’t have tape all over the floors to keep everybody six feet apart. And right now we’re not masking, so that is huge. So yes, it feels more like a traditional start to school. So we’re excited,” Visse said.
Preparations for the new school year included custodians working all summer to make sure the building was clean, teachers decorating their classrooms and going over curriculum, as well as open house opportunities to meet students and their families.
Six-year-old Aaron Pfaehler was certainly excited to not only be entering a new grade (first grade) but also a new school altogether.
What was he most excited about?
“Everything,” he said. But if he had to narrow it down, his answer was “play at recess.”
It was the first day of second grade for Rylee Combs, who wasn’t too sad to see summer vacation come to an end. “I’m happy to see school,” she said. “I want to see my friends.”
Sending her daughter and son back to school will be an adjustment for Combs’ mother, Tonya Covey.
“I get a little nervous. This is his first year,” she said, pointing to her son, who was taking a quick nap before school. “He’s going into kindergarten, and obviously he’s past passing out. So I don’t know how that’s going to go, but Rylee’s always been super excited for school, so I never worry about her. When it comes to the school year, she’s ready to go.”
Covey said she’s also happy to see things get back to normal.
“I’m hopeful they have fun this year, and get to actually do things and not worry about a mask or precautions or any of that kind of stuff. Back to normal. For two years, it seemed like it was just chaotic, and everyone was cautious. And we couldn’t really do anything,” she said.
As for challenges, Visse said staffing has certainly been one the last few years, but she said the school is currently in good shape staffing wise.
Getting students on track is a bigger point of emphasis. “The thing that we worry about, obviously, is closing the reading and math gap for our students that were off during COVID,” Visse said.
As for other northern Kentucky school districts, Kenton County’s first day is next Wednesday, Aug. 17, while Boone county’s first day is next Thursday, Aug. 18.