Students will be grabbing their backpacks, packed lunches and maybe even an apple for the teacher today as the Bradford Area School District welcomes them back for a new school year. “We are truly looking forward to their return and all of us are planning on having a fun school year,” said Sarah Tingley, principal of School Street Elementary School.

While students were still enjoying vacation, many people were working behind the scenes to help make the upcoming year successful.

“Our custodians did a remarkable job of preparing the building for the students and staff’s return. They spent countless hours scrubbing walls, lockers, tables, windows and carpets. We just ask that the students show pride in keeping it looking nice,” said Tingley.

One major change for the school district this year is the Latchkey program, which offers before and after school childcare for all BASD students enrolled in pre-k through grade 5. It will now be offered through the Bradford Family YMCA at George G. Blaisdell Elementary School and School Street Elementary School.

The school district also started using the Raptor Visitor Management System on Aug. 19 this year, which allows administrators to know who is in each school, verifies the identity of visitors, keeps track of check-in and check-out times and prints custom visitor badges.

“Please remember to bring identification to the school if you want to visit any area of the school or to pick up a child during school hours. We are using the Raptor system and we will be scanning visitors into the buildings,” Tingley noted.

Also new this year is the Remind Communication System which “allows the administrators, teachers, coaches and advisors to send quick messages via text, email and/or phone calls to students and parents without revealing personal contact information,” stated Pude in a welcome letter on the district’s website. “Remind will be the official ‘general’ messaging platform for the BASD and will be used more extensively to communicate with parents and students.”

As usual at the start of the school year, parents are asked to be patient with busing the first few weeks of school.

“We have many pre-kindergarten and kindergarten students who require additional time to get on their respective buses, new drivers who need to get accustomed to their routes and some construction delays. Buses may be late — please don’t panic, it will get progressively better,” noted Pude.

The school district will be strictly enforcing transportation policies this year as a safety measure to students.

“Parents will not be able to call the schools to request a change in bus (transportation) for that day. The request must be made three days in advance and the requested stop must be an approved second bus stop,” Tingley explained.

Elsewhere in the district, the staff at Floyd C. Fretz Middle School will be introducing students to a new English Language Arts program with all students, grades 6-8.

“This program will be a rigorous approach to the areas of reading, English and writing,” said Tina Slaven, principal of Fretz.

New faces to the Fretz faculty include computer apps teacher, Shelby Runyan, physical education and health teacher, Brigid Lundgren, 8th grade mathematics teacher, Stephen Joblon and school nurse, Andrea Strotman.

Each new school year comes with a bit of apprehension on the parts of parents and students. District staff noted a few ways parents can help children have a better school experience.

To promote a successful school year, Tingley suggested parents keep a consistent bedtime and stay in contact with their child’s teacher.

“Many teachers send home newsletters to keep families updated. Please contact the teacher as soon as a question or concern arises. Teachers can be easily reached through email or one can leave a message with the secretaries,” Tingley said.

“We truly want to partner with parents to make each child’s educational experiences in the Bradford Area School District as positive as it can be. We welcome your involvement with our schools and are looking forward to your active engagement in your child’s learning,” added Pude.

And what about those first-day jitters? Well, district officials noted that students aren’t alone with those.

“They should not be nervous, but everyone is nervous on the first day — even administrators,” noted Tingley when asked about advice for students.

Slaven explained attendance is important for a successful year as well.

“Every student has a job to do each day: that is to attend school and participate in the education process. This is a gift that you give yourself that no one can ever take away from you. In order to do your job, you must be present each and everyday or you will not reap the full benefits,” she said.

“We are truly looking forward to their return and all of us are planning on having a fun school year. They are in a safe place and we are here to help them succeed,” concluded Tingley.

For more information on the Bradford Area School District, visit https://www.bradfordareaschools.org.