Most area students begin school later this week; SEMO welcomes students Thursday

From prekindergarten through graduate level, students will return to classrooms starting this week for the beginning of the 2019-2020 school year.

Classes at some area schools start Wednesday while students at a few school districts have one more week of summer vacation before returning to “reading, writing and arithmetic.”

Southeast Missouri State University

Opening week for Southeast’s fall semester begins with move-in day Thursday. Hundreds of Southeast students, including a sizable percentage of the freshman class, will converge on the Student Recreation Center starting at 6 a.m. to pick up keys and check into various residence halls.

Katie Krodinger, director of new student programs at Southeast, said more than 900 upperclassmen student volunteers will be on hand throughout the day to welcome new students to campus and help move them into their dormitory rooms.

“This (moving into the residence halls) is one of the biggest steps in students transitioning to college, and we are here to guide them throughout the day,” she said, adding the university’s residence life staff has the move-in process “down to a science and will provide students with an organized and efficient process to get them into their new rooms.”

The university will host a “move-in bash” at the Student Recreation Center from 8 to 10 p.m. Thursday.

“For many students, this will be the first time they will interact with returning students and have the opportunity to reconnect with friends,” Krodinger said.

The university’s opening week activities continue Friday with orientation sessions for new students that morning leading up to the annual convocation program at 11 a.m. at the Show Me Center during which they’ll hear from Southeast president Carlos Vargas-Aburto and bestselling author John O’Leary.

Convocation will be followed by additional campus tours and meetings with faculty members as well as a “Southeast family portrait” for freshmen class members at Houck Stadium.

Welcome-back-to-campus activities will continue Friday night and throughout the weekend leading up to the start of classes Monday morning.

Ann Hayes, Southeast’s director of university communications, said a “preliminary enrollment estimate” won’t be available until at least next week and it will be later in the semester before Southeast can announce its “official” enrollment total of all on-campus, online and regional campus students.

More information about Southeast’s opening week activities is available online at www.semo.edu/nsp/openingweek.

Cape Girardeau School District

The school year for about 4,200 students in the Cape Girardeau School District begins Thursday, although for faculty and staff the school year starts today with staff programs and activities continuing through Wednesday.

Open houses are scheduled at the district’s elementary schools tonight for students and their parents, giving them an opportunity to meet teachers and familiarize themselves with their new classrooms.

Once again this year, students in the Cape Girardeau school system will be provided with free breakfasts and lunches thanks to a grant awarded in 2018 by the U.S. Department of Agriculture intended to provide for basic nutritional needs of students in qualified school districts. This is the second year of a four-year grant.

Jackson School District

School for students in the Jackson School District will begin Thursday, although orientation programs for some students took place earlier this month and will continue today in the district’s elementary schools.

The district, which has an enrollment of more than 5,000, will host a breakfast Wednesday for all teachers in the district at the Jackson High School Event Center and a “freshman transition” orientation program is scheduled for noon until 3 p.m. Wednesday at the high school.

This is the first year the district will provide an iPad or Chromebook laptop computer to all students in the district to assist with their academic studies and class assignments.

Notre Dame Regional High School

The school year at Notre Dame Regional High School in Cape Girardeau won’t start until next week, with freshmen reporting for classes Aug. 20 followed by a retreat for freshmen Aug. 21. Classes for all other students will begin Aug. 22. An overnight “lock-in” for freshmen and seniors is scheduled for the night of Aug. 23, ending the morning of Aug. 24 and a Mass for the senior class is scheduled for Aug. 25, during which the seniors will be “commissioned as school leaders,” according to Brother David Migliorino, Notre Dame principal.

School faculty and staff will participate in an in-service retreat Wednesday through Friday of this week.

Notre Dame has an enrollment this year of 513 students in grades nine through 12.

Scott City School District

Thursday will be the first day of classes for students in the Scott City School District. Professional development programming for faculty and staff began Monday and will continue through Wednesday.

The district has approximately 850 students enrolled in prekindergarten through 12th grade.

Scott County School District

Classes at Kelly High School and other schools in the Scott County School District will begin Thursday, although faculty and staff in the 950-student district began two days of professional development programming Monday.

The district will host open houses at all schools from 6 until 8 p.m. today.

Other school districts

Start dates for other area schools include:

• Wednesday: Bell City School District, Saxony Lutheran High School and Trinity Lutheran School
• Thursday: Advance School District, Chaffee School District, Delta School District and Nell Holcomb School District
• Friday: Immaculate Conception School in Jackson
• Aug. 22: Oak Ridge School District, St. Mary Cathedral School and St. Vincent de Paul Paul Elementary School

Information about opening dates for other schools can be found on their respective websites.