Sean C. Morgan
Enrollment appeared to be down as school reported a smooth first week back in session.
The week was “very good, excellent,” Hawthorne Principal Mike Aman said. “The only thing is we’re down a lot of students.”
A number of students the school expected back did not show up, he said. Instead of an anticipated 350, the school had 331.
The junior high was also down after moving a large eighth grade out with a smaller incoming seventh grade.
Overall, the district was down about 80, not counting the high school, Supt. Larry Horton said. The high school was having some difficulty with its computer system and getting an accurate count of students.
Hawthorne welcomed students back to school with an assembly where teachers and students introduced themselves to each other on the first day, Aman said. After that, it was classroom business as usual.
Aman was among several movements in building administrators. He moved to Hawthorne after 10 years with Holley. During his time as Holley’s principal, Aman was also principal at Crawfordsville and Pleasant Valley Kindergarten at different times.
“These people become your family,” Aman said. “I’m going to miss that.
“(Hawthorne) is a little bit bigger. It’s nice to be in one place all day long. It’s nice to have one set of kids, parents and staff,” but he’ll miss “the small country atmosphere.”
The larger staff and larger amount of paperwork mean he also is having to get even more organized, Aman said. “It’s just nice to be at a school like Hawthorne with a lot of great families and a lot of great kids.”
“Things are going well,” Foster Principal Gloria Mittleman said. “We have about 347 students.”
Most of Foster’s classrooms are full with 27 to 29 students, she said. The students and staff have also been welcoming to her. Mittleman moves to Foster from Hawthorne this year and had some staffing shifts with the district’s only new elementary teacher, Rachel Markell.
“It’s been a good first week,” Mittleman said.
In other administrative changes, Student Services Director Elena Barton is now half-time principal at Crawfordsville, and Curriculum Director Jan Sharp is half-time principal at Holley. Overall, the district reduced its administrative staff this year by one and teaching staff by five.
Sweet Home High School Principal Pat Stineff said the school year started out well with major portions of the high school demolished and under construction.
“It’s been a fairly positive week,” Supt. Horton said. Numbers appear down, but so far, the district has been unable to get an accurate count. The large class moving out of the eighth grade to the high school accounts for a large portion of the enrollment reductions from kindergarten through grade eight.
Overall the junior high is down about 40 while kindergarten and elementary schools are down about 40 overall.
“Everything seems to be moving in a fairly positive direction,” Supt. Horton said. A number of bond projects are underway, but staff and students are working well together around them.
Among the challenges facing the district as a whole with the bond, approved two years ago by Sweet Home voters, is the cafeteria at Foster. Food service staff is preparing all food at Foster and shipping it out to the rest of the district.
The challenge was going from the large kitchen at the high school and “squeezing into” the small kitchen at Foster, Supt. Horton said. The kitchen is stuffed with everything. A rented semi-type freezer is being stored outside, and the Foster cafeteria stage is stocked with food products.
The siding project at Foster is complete, but many more projects will continue at schools throughout the district this year, Supt. Horton said. “This time, next summer, hopefully things will start to slow down.”
“The kids I saw today (Friday),” Supt. Horton said, after visiting all district schools. “I saw a tremendous number of smiling students.”