CCISD welcomes more than 8,000 back to class
By BRITTANY FHOLER
Cove Leader-Press
More than 8,000 students started a new school year in Copperas Cove Independent School District with the first day of school on Wednesday.
Hundreds of children, in grades kindergarten through fifth grade, waited in line early Wednesday morning for the doors of Fairview/Miss Jewell Elementary School to open and their new adventure to begin.
Once they entered the door, they either went straight to class or stopped by the cafeteria for breakfast.
Nancy Marrow was at Fairview/Jewell Elementary to drop off her daughter, Mexia Hopkins. Hopkins is in third grade this year, and her older brother, Matthew, is in seventh grade at Copperas Cove Junior High School.
“I’m a little nervous, just as they are,” Marrow said. “I think it’s kind of normal to be nervous on the first day back. [Feeling] excited, trying to get back to a little bit of normal. They surely need to be in someone’s classroom. I am not a teacher.”
Jaime Ibarra was also there to drop off his two sons, Santiago and Mateo. Santiago is in third grade this year, and Mateo is in first grade.
“We’re excited. They’re both excited,” Ibarra said. “They went to sleep early last night, and I think they’re going to have a really great year. They’ve been dreaming about or thinking for a while about what they’re going to do in school and the friends they’re going to make and what they will learn, so I’m excited for them.”
Ibarra and his wife are also involved with the school’s PTO program and try to get other parents involved in the program by stressing the importance of that relationship between the teachers, the school and the community.
“That’s something that benefits, I think, the kids itself- at the end state, it benefits the kids so that’s why we’re still involved in it, and we see the outcome with other stuff that happens to kids and some of the events that we have,” Ibarra said. “It brings the kids together and their parents, so that’s the exciting part of it.”
Santiago said he was feeling good about the first day of school and was looking forward to learning. His favorite subject is math, he said.
Principal Rebekah Shuck waited at the front door and greeted students and parents.
“We’re really excited,” Shuck said. “We’re so happy that kids are coming back, and we have all of our students. We’ve been preparing for this for weeks, and we had an amazing Meet the Teacher Night. Parents were so happy, and everybody’s just been so pleasant, so we’re just very excited and grateful to be here.”
This year, Fairview/Miss Jewell Elementary has approximately 520 students enrolled, as of Wednesday. Fairview/Miss Jewell is one of 11 campuses in the district. Other campuses include Copperas Cove High School; Crossroads High School; Cove Junior High; S.C. Lee Junior High; C.R. Clements/Hollie Parsons Elementary; Hettie Halstead Elementary; House Creek Elementary; J.L. Williams/Lovett Ledger Elementary; Martin Walker Elementary; and Mae Stevens Early Learning Academy.
CCISD has launched a technology initiative where each student receives a laptop device. For students at the junior highs and high school, the device can go home with them. For students in Pre-K through 5th grade, the device will remain in the student’s classroom.
This initiative will provide students with access to the necessary programs for their learning. Students will not have to share devices, so this makes it easier for students to social distance and helps with sanitizing as well, according to Shuck.
Masks are optional this year for students and staff, but the district is maintaining its sanitizing of classrooms. This year, every classroom will be fogged as an extra sanitizing measure, according to Communications Director Wendy Sledd. Custodial staff will especially focus on the high touch areas on all campuses.
The district will report any new COVID-19 cases to the state each week, with the TEA and the Texas Department of Health Services keeping track of those numbers. In the 2020-2021 school year, the total number of students with lab-confirmed cases in the district was 295, with 150 of the district’s staff having lab-confirmed cases. The district’s full back to school plan can be found at https://s3.amazonaws.com/scschoolfiles/1223/covid_protocol.pdf.