CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — Montgomery County students and teachers return to the classroom on Wednesday with a half day to get the ball rolling with the new year. The first full day is Monday.
Kirkwood Elementary is the newest school within the Clarksville-Montgomery County School System. It is the 25th elementary school in the district. Because of Kirkwood's addition, new zoning changes are in play for the start of this school year.
School official Anthony Johnson said the county continues to grow so expansion is needed. He expects more than 4,000 students to register district wide.
“We are a fast growing community. When I started in the school district 14 years ago til now, we have about 10,000 more students then we did. We’re growing quickly," said Johnson.
As always, security is at the top of mind this year. Johnson said they continue to follow all protocols and have ramped up measures over the past few years. Thanks to a partnership with the Montgomery County Sheriff’s office each district in the school has an SRO and some of the bigger schools have two or more.
There are some new changes in the CMCSS district with its first early learning center opening at St. Bethlehem Elementary to be a hub for Pre-K and Burt Elementary now houses the Burt Elementary Innovation Center.
When it comes to staffing, the district has 99 percent of its teachers, but there’s still a big need for more in special education and secondary math and science.
Fostering Hope provides Christmas for kids in foster care. I'm delighted to see Fostering Hope expand this year to expand their reach to now include kids in Foster care in metro AND foster kids in East TN hard hit by Helene.
-Bree Smith
