School bells ring in new year

Fallon’s Oasis Academy started school Monday, while the Churchill County School District completed teacher development training Monday and Tuesday before students return today.

Melissa Mackedon, executive director of the academy, said the first day of school was seamless and painless. She mentioned jokingly the biggest hurdle was getting the Go-Gurt yogurt tubes opened for the kindergarteners.

“It’s gone great,” Mackedon said. “I can’t believe I’ve had time to check my emails.”

The academy has two new faculty positions this year, a school counselor and an academic strategy specialist. Mackedon said the much-needed positions were made possible by grant funding and school growth. The school started in 2011 and the high school opened last fall, the latter now having about 200 students.

Meanwhile, district teachers met on topics ranging from student evaluation to the new technology being incorporated into the schools such as Infinite Campus and Google Chromebooks.

Nate Waite, secondary technology integration coach for the district, said he and his team have been working hard to bring everyone up to speed and beyond. This includes getting staff really comfortable with the websites and devices and able to leverage their capabilities.

Infinite Campus is a web-based portal for parents and students that provides real-time, detailed information about schedules, assignments, grades, attendance, notices, events, graduation progress and more. The tool is being used by Oasis Academy as well.

The new Google Chromebooks are for grades five and up and will be rolled out in the near future

Today is the first day of school for the Churchill County School District. Churchill County High School students should report to the gym at 8:10 a.m. then will be released to their first period classes. Churchill County Middle School’s first period starts at 8:10 a.m. E.C. Best and Numa elementary schools start at 8:40 a.m.

Logos Christian Academy also starts today at 8:05 a.m. and Fallon Seventh-day Adventist Elementary starts tomorrow.