LIVERMORE FALLS – Custodians were still working on the middle school Thursday as the opening of school in SAD 36 loomed Tuesday.
The smell of fresh paint lingered as custodians painted portions of walls and trim in the stairways a brighter green. The cafeteria is no longer a drab beige, but white with green and gold stripes – the color of the Andies – running in bands around the middle of the walls.
Desks in the hallways were being put back in rooms, and a rug was being prepared to be laid on the bottom floor.
The school has been gone through from top to bottom, new Principal Ted Finn said Thursday.
“Its probably been painted like it’s never been done before,” he said.
Finn said a new grade six-through-12 code of conduct has been adopted, so there will be more consistency with discipline throughout the grades.
The students will have three years at the middle school and will know what the expectations are by the time they reach the high school, he said.
Finn has already scheduled an informational meeting for parents of students in grades six through eight at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 7, at the school to go over the discipline code. Laptop computers for grades seven and eight will also be a topic that evening, he said.
“We have a brand spanking new schedule,” he said. “We went back to a quarter schedule instead of a trimester schedule.”
Instead of breaking the school year into thirds, students will have to meet goals for four quarters, similar to the high and elementary schools.
The district has also changed its times of opening and closing of schools.
Although there still will be a single bus run for all students, the high school will start at 7:45 a.m. and end at 2 p.m., the middle school will start at 7:50 a.m. and end at about 2:05 p.m., and the elementary school will start at 8:15 a.m. and end at 2:15 p.m.
The first day of school for kindergarten through grade nine is Tuesday, Aug. 30. All students are scheduled to attend school Wednesday, Aug. 31.
At the high school, guidance counselor Sue Spalding said Thursday that more college visits for students and parents will be offered this year. There will also be a free preparation course on the SAT, offered through the SAD 36/Jay Adult Education Center.
Livermore Elementary School will start the second year of Reading First, with a focus on literacy, new Principal Jeannine Backus said Thursday.
“I’m looking forward to the leadership that I can give,” Backus said of the new year.
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