LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Jefferson County Public Schools students head back to class next week, and teachers in the district are busy preparing amid new curriculum and school start times.
At Martin Luther King Jr. Elementary in Louisville's Russell neighborhood, principal Rhonda Hedges said the school and the district have already made adjustments for one instructor who couldn't make the new start time work.
Pictured: Rhonda Hedges, the principal of King Elementary School at 4325 Vermont Avenue in the Shawnee neighborhood of Louisville, Ky., discusses the upcoming school year. (WDRB photo)
"I think I had only one person -- it just didn't work for their family -- and the district was great to accommodate them," Hedges said. "Otherwise everyone else is really excited about it. It's just business as usual: getting prepared, getting everything ready and just ready to go."
Teachers at King Elementary are putting the final touches on their classrooms while preparing for all the changes they'll face this year, including a later start time of 9:40 a.m.
Hedges said the school is implementing new programs before and after school to accommodate families' schedules, allowing students to come in as early as 8:30 a.m.
In the mornings, the school is partnering with the Louisville Leopard Percussionists, which offers drumming programs for students, and the Louisville Decode project, a youth literacy program. These new programs will begin in September, giving parents a chance to drop their kids off early if needed.
Another big shift for teachers across JCPS this year is new math and reading curriculums, which will be uniform across schools.
Some educators like 5th grade teacher Amy Graf believe the change will provide consistency across all schools and will be a big benefit to students.
Pictured: Amy Graf, a 5th grade teacher at King Elementary School at 4325 Vermont Avenue in the Shawnee neighborhood of Louisville, Ky., discusses the upcoming school year.(WDRB photo)
"They should be able to move elementary schools without skipping lessons," Graf said. "So I feel that this program is really going to help our students move mountains in their reading and literacy scores."
JCPS teachers are currently preparing lesson plans under the new curriculum so they'll be able to hit the ground running on their first day back.
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