Back to school - already?

It’s that time of year again. Backpacks and school supplies have been purchased, the perfect “first day of school” has been picked out and, whether they’re willing to admit it or not, most Rockingham County kids are feeling at least a twinge of back-to-school excitement.

Bright and early Tuesday morning, the county’s public schools will open to more than 14,000 students. The county school system’s faculty and staff have been preparing for the school year all summer long.

On Thursday afternoon, the halls at South End Elementary School in Reidsville were quiet, but the classrooms were bustling with activity as teachers hurried to get desks arranged, books assigned and decorations and learning materials hung on the walls.

“It’s a lot easier than it was last year,” fourth grade teacher Jordan Wood said. She is in her second year teaching and has the same classroom she had last year. Her classroom has a racing theme and is decorated with racetracks and cars.

“Probably the biggest challenge is figuring out where everything goes,” she said as she organized books for her students.

Wood said she’s looking forward to Tuesday and getting to know her new students.

Down the hall, her colleagues Stephanie Snyder and Carolyn Pruitt, the school’s fifth grade teachers, were busy getting their rooms ready.

“We’re fortunate to have five days to get everything ready,” Pruitt said. Some school systems, she said, give teachers only a couple of days to prepare their classrooms.

On the other side of the county, at Draper Elementary School, kindergarten teachers Chasity Fix, Sandra Greeson and Jill Dineen were going over their lists of students. The school held kindergarten orientation Thursday evening. All three said they are excited about their new students.

Draper school nurse Jerlean Pruitt said her job, like that of teachers, has special responsibilities at the beginning of the school year. Part of her job is making sure that parents of kindergarten students get their children’s vaccinations up to date.

“They have to be completed by Sept. 23,” she said. She said the state has gotten stricter in recent years with making sure students are up-to-date. If the vaccinations are not completed, the child can be suspended from school, she said.

On Thursday morning, the system held its convocation, an annual event that Superintendent Rodney Shotwell called “a big reunion.”

Teachers and other employees of Rockingham County Schools packed the auditorium at Reidsville High School to kick off the school year. Shotwell urged his staff to come together as one system.

“Some people still say there’s four separate school systems,” he said, referring to the days when there were county schools, Eden and Reidsville city schools and Western Rockingham schools. “We’re all Rockingham County schools.”

Shotwell also told teachers to remember that the children they’re teaching are “digital natives,” meaning that they’ve been surrounded by technology, such as the Internet, all their lives. He said most of their teachers, on the other hand, are “digital immigrants,” and have had to adapt to such technology.

Incorporating technology into daily classroom activities is critical to connecting with students, he said.

Also on Thursday, local law enforcement agencies came together to reiterate the importance of school traffic safety. The issue hits home in Rockingham County, where two people lost their lives last year in school-related accidents. In January, a McMichael student, Nicholas Adkins, 16, was hit and killed while trying to board his school bus in Stoneville. Less than a month later, Bennie Eanes, an 80-year-old crossing guard at Draper Elementary School, died after being struck by a vehicle.

Sheriff Sam Page mentioned the two incidents during a news conference at Rockingham County Middle School where he, along with Shotwell and members of the North Carolina Highway Patrol, stressed the importance of drivers paying attention to school zones and school bus stops.

“Plan ahead, leave early and please be patient,” Page said. “We’d rather you be a little late than (have) someone lose their life.”

Highway patrol Trooper B.T. Rakestraw said his agency would be strictly enforcing safety in and around school zones, cracking down on speeding and seat belt violations, two actions for which he said the highway patrol has zero tolerance. He said troopers would also be targeting drivers disobeying school bus laws.

A 6-year-old was killed last week in Wake County after getting off a school bus.

“We don’t want that to happen,” Shotwell said. “If you see the lights on the bus, you just need to stop.”