SCHOOL BELLS WILL RING SOON

With pencils sharpened and notebooks ready, students across the region are ready to head to school.

Classes start at area schools during the next two weeks. Three schools start this week.

Classes begin Thursday at Zalma School District in Bollinger County. Darryl Sauer, Zalma superintendent, said teachers will complete two days of workshops today, and everything is ready for the start of school.

Zalma schools open early mostly as a precaution because winter snows often cause cancellation of classes.

"When we get some snow on the back roads it gets pretty hard to clear sometimes," Sauer said.

When students arrive at school Thursday they will have a chance to visit the district's new, 16-computer lab. "We're pretty excited about that," the superintendent said.

School starts Friday at Leopold and Oak Ridge school districts.

Greg Nenninger, principal of Leopold High School, said bus routes are set, faculty meetings are being held today and everything is ready for Friday's start.

Leopold traditionally runs an early shift during the first month of school. Classes start at 7:20 a.m. and dismiss at 2:15 p.m. The early schedule continues through the end of the SEMO District Fair, Nenninger explained.

The district is always among the first to start classes, primarily because buildings aren't air conditioned. The early schedule also helps students beat the heat.

But Nenninger said this might be the last year Leopold students arrive for school at 7:20 a.m. "We are down to one building that is not air conditioned," he said.

Nenninger said Leopold likely will remain among the early starters. "There is a feeling in this community that they want the students out early in the spring," he said. "The only way to do that is to start early in the fall."

He said starting classes on a Friday gives school officials a chance to make adjustments after meeting with students. "If we have to find a few desks or move things around, we have a couple of days to get it done," he said. "And we break the kids in slowly with one day, then a break. We'll hit it hard on Monday."

Most schools start Monday, with another large number of schools opening on Aug. 21. Cape Girardeau public schools begin classes Aug. 26.