Watson Chapel reports good first day of school all-around

Well before it was time to open the Edgewood Elementary campus, the Strickland family was rarin’ to go on the first day of class in the Watson Chapel School District.

“They were happy,” Jimmy Strickland Jr. said of his two sons, Jimmy III, 8, and Conway, 5. “They were excited. They were ready to go.”

By 7:20 a.m. Sueann Stevens, the boys’ mother, walked Conway to the front entrance, into a throng of greeters for the day, the Watson Chapel High School girls basketball team.

Little Jimmy was on his way to L.L. Owen Elementary to begin second grade. Reflecting on his recent Edgewood days, he said it was a fun time and assured his little brother of the same.

“I told him he’ll have friends in class and he can go outside and play,” Jimmy III said before taking off to his new school.

Monday was the first day in Andrew Curry’s new school district as well. Curry has been on the job as Watson Chapel’s superintendent since July 1.

“It looks like we’ve got a lot of kids that are ready to come back, getting ready to learn,” said the former Deer/Mt. Judea district superintendent, who last worked in the Ozark Mountain district. “It’s been a good morning.”

But this first day wasn’t much different from others in Curry’s 27-year education career, he said. “It’s about the same first day as everywhere, parents bringing their kids in from everywhere and a few mama’s crying,” Curry said.

At least one parent could be seen wiping away tears after entrusting her little one to Principal Annette Neely’s staff.

Then again, there were parents ensuring their young ones it would be a good day.

“They were happy,” Curry said, laughing.

The biggest thing for a first day of school, Curry said, is to make sure students arrive safely and go home safely. The arrival part was flawless at Edgewood on Monday, as buses dropped off students away from the parent dropoff near the front entrance without incident.

Before meeting their new teachers, the kindergartners and first-graders at Edgewood were welcomed by Leslie Henderson’s basketball players, many of whom escorted their up-andcoming Wildcats from their vehicles to the halls of learning. Henderson, beginning her 33rd year in the district and 30th as varsity head coach, said Neely first asked her team to welcome the younger students to class in 2019, but the team did not do it last year due to covid-19.

“Hopefully, we can do other stuff throughout the year,” she said.

The Edgewood students, Lady Wildcats and staff members hardly showed any hesitation to meet Curry’s “expectation” of

wearing face masks, in light of an ongoing injunction against Arkansas Act 1002, which previously banned school districts and other public entities from mandating that face coverings be worn on their property. Gov. Asa Hutchinson, who has since expressed regret over signing Act 1002 into law, is now a defendant in a lawsuit against the state law. Attorney General Leslie Rutledge said also that she will appeal the circuit judge’s ruling that challenges the injunction.

The Watson Chapel School Board passed a resolution allowing Curry to set the expectation during its Aug. 9 meeting. Curry has stopped short of making it an enforceable policy, opting to pay close attention to covid-19 related data in Jefferson County in the meantime.

From what he saw Monday, Curry said: “Expectations are being met.”

Monday was also the first day of classes in White Hall schools. Board members in that district approved a measure from Superintendent Doug Dorris requiring all students and staff to wear masks.

“You got some a little upset, either way you go,” Dorris said. “Right now, we met with quite a few parents. Some understand it a little better, and some don’t. Overall, I think it went very well.”

Dorris said he implemented the mask mandate to “look out for the safety of the kids.” Children under 12 are not eligible to be vaccinated against covid-19, leading school superintendents across Arkansas to push for protective measures among all of their students including mandatory masks.

The first day went well in White Hall as of 11 a.m., Dorris said, but he did report one hiccup.

“We had one kid that got on the wrong bus, so far,” Dorris said. “He got off on the wrong campus. Once he quickly realized it, we got him in a car and got him into the right school.

It’s not uncommon that a kid gets off the wrong bus.

“But the first day is going rather well, so far.”

Classes in the Pine Bluff School District begin Wednesday.

(Pine Bluff Commercial/I.C. Murrell) Annisia Atkins (from left) and Tatyana Barbee of the Watson Chapel High girls basketball team escort a young student to the front door of Edgewood Elementary on Monday. The girls’ teammates and coaches await in the background to welcome the little one back to school.

(Pine Bluff Commercial/I.C. Murrell) Mariah Robinson (from left) expresses sadness over starting school Monday at Edgewood Elementary as her twin brother Martell Robinson (right) keeps his cool. Their mother, Sundraia Boyd, walks them to the front entrance.

(Pine Bluff Commercial/I.C. Murrell) Jimmy Strickland III, 8, (from left) and his brother Conway Strickland, 5, wait in their father’s truck Monday before the Edgewood Elementary campus opens. Jimmy is beginning second grade at L.L. Owen Elementary while Conway is starting kindergarten at Edgewood.

(Pine Bluff Commercial/I.C. Murrell) Watson Chapel schools Superintendent Andrew Curry welcomes a long line of parents and other guardians dropping off their children Monday at the front of Edgewood Elementary for the first day of school.