Students arrived on campuses throughout the Escalon Unified School District on Thursday, Aug. 8 with teachers and administrators there to greet them.
Once the backpacks were hung on hooks or placed in lockers, and the bell rang, the first day of the 2024-25 school year was underway.
At Dent Elementary, several students got to enter their classrooms in the newly opened wing, with completion earlier this summer. Other campuses also were freshened up for the first day and many sites featured some new faces on the staff.
“Escalon Unified School District started the first day of school with over 3000 students enrolled across all of our school sites. With summer programming, and summer construction projects completed during our summer break, our teams worked extra hard to ensure that our schools were ready for the first day of school,” said District Superintendent Ricardo Chavez.
For the youngest, there were some tough goodbyes, as the transitional kindergarten and kindergarten students began their educational journey, some more willingly than others.
But overall, the students seemed to settle in and older kids eagerly greeted friends and classmates as they met on the various campuses for a little time on the playground or visiting to catch up on summer activities before heading to classrooms.
“Our teachers and staff had warm welcomes prepared for our students as they stepped foot onto our campuses,” noted Chavez. “Students were greeted with balloon arches, high fives and gleaming smiles. Dent Elementary School teachers and staff opened new classroom doors that looked amazing thanks to all of the hard work that went into preparing them.”
Meanwhile, the biggest administrative change over the summer came for El Portal Middle School. The Panthers started the year with new Principal Mr. Seamus Eddy and new Assistant Principal Mrs. Alex Reeves at the helm.
“The District also welcomed a new Director of Student Services, Mr. Robert Bornmann,” Chavez added. “I am excited for a full year ahead and feel honored to continue serving our students, staff and our Escalon community.”
Start times vary by campus. The schools in the district welcoming students and staff back for another year were Collegeville, Dent, Farmington and Van Allen elementary schools, El Portal Middle School, Vista High continuation, Escalon High School and Gateway Charter Academy.
