Bulldogs return to academics

Tioga ISD's classrooms were abuzz with first day fun on Monday as the district joined its neighbors in starting the school year.

In her kindergarten class, Christa Barnet talked with her class about how they were feeling about their first day, equipped with a jug of Jitter Juice for anyone who was feeling a little anxious.

'This is to help all of our jitters to go away in case we're scared,' she said. 'It's great if you're not scared, but if we are scared, this is going to make us feel so much better.'

She gave her class a handout where they could draw a face that reflected their emotions, with several taking the chance to draw a smiley face.

Down the hallway, Ryan Griffin is excited about her first year of teaching first grade.

'This is my first year back after being at home for 10 years with all my own kids, so I'm nervous, but I'm really excited,' she said. 'It's a small group, but a good group.'

Tioga Elementary School Principal Jana Hansen was thrilled to have the campus coursing with kids again.

'This place is more fun, more enjoyable, with the students here,' she said.

She added that she's 'always excited for the new year and having everybody back.'

'We didn’t have any tears this morning, so that was great,' Hansen said.

With pre-K through fifth on the elementary side, Hansen said she was excited about having the traditional elementary ages for the first time in her tenure as principal at Tioga.

Her fellow principal, Pamela Moore, welcomed the Tioga Middle School students with a quick assembly and a chance for the students to put a name to each of the teachers' faces.

'It just seems like I blinked and it's time to start again, but I'm so excited to have the kids back and see great things happening in the classrooms, new staff, new faces,' she said before the assembly. 'We've got new kids, so I'm looking for a lot of learning and fun to happen this year.'

One of her teachers, Amber Hammer, is one of the faculty members wearing multiple hats, as she will serve as the librarian as well as the yearbook and journalism teacher.

'I love to hear what they've done over the summer and excited to just have them back,' she said.

Tioga High School Principal Keith Kirkland, too, is excited about having the students back on campus, and he said he hopes to build where they left off last year.

'I'm excited to continue off some success that we had last year, both academically and extracurricularly,' he said. 'Obviously, we're— I don't know that we'll ever stop talking about it, but— we had state champions in track, national champions in FCCLA. So that's always good to finish a year but also bring that up and continue to remind kids to continue to be great.'

He added that it's fun to have some students who will have been on the campus for six years by the end of their high school career because they came up as seventh graders.

'It's exciting to see them and kind of feel like they don't have to go through that awkward freshman stage,' Kirkland said. 'They've been on this campus and know where the classes are.'

Compared to last year's start where the high school was without power to half the building, Monday was smooth and easy, Superintendent Josh Ballinger said.

He also said having the traditional grades at each level of school—elementary, middle and high school— feels like the right path forward.

'It's a good step for what's coming down the road, so we've got to be ready,' Ballinger said.

He, like Kirkland, hopes to build on what the district has done to improve.

'It would just be maintain the path of growth that we had on the academic side, and then continue to improve our financial standing,' Ballinger said. '[The improvement in accountability rating] was a good testament to our staff. We're still shorthanded, but they wear many hats and do many jobs every day.'