CARMICHAEL, Calif. — Thursday marks the first day of school for students in the San Juan Unified School District. Many families have a different routine when heading back to school, and it’s no different for teachers and the principal.
“Did you clean your mouth? Is your hair combed? Did you put both shoes on? Did they match? Right now they are in the excitement phase so ask me again in a couple of weeks,” said Jennifer Morgan.
She’s the mom of a first grader and eighth grader in the school district.
“We taught them how to fix their own breakfast and right now they are excited so I'm sure I won't have to be dragging them out of bed just yet. I'm sure that will come as the weather changes,” she said.
While kids were enjoying the last days of summer break, teachers were already at school training and preparing their classrooms for students, like 11-year veteran teacher Michelle Pon.
The Cameron Ranch third-grade teacher says she loves bringing new activities in every year and identifying where students need the most help.
“My grade level partner and I were talking about our reading and our writing curriculum, and we feel like writing here at Cameron Ranch has been our struggle. We really want our kids to be able to not just be great writers but we want them to be really great readers and they are really tied together,” said Pon.
Meanwhile, Principal Aliceon Sloss is making it her mission to meet with parents and speak with them about their needs. Safety is a top concern for parents, which is why Sloss says her campus will have a new fence and age-appropriate active shooter drills.
“Our school got selected to just get some core fencing as another layer of safety for our school and so that’s starting this year. We're moving into those conversations with the district and construction will be starting in the next calendar year,” said Sloss.
Other districts that started Aug. 10 include Natomas Unified, Roseville Joint Union High School District, Roseville City School District, Dry Creek Joint Elementary School District and Elk Grove Unified.
