Decatur schools hold open house

DECATUR — With the start of the 2020-21 school year coming, the School District held its annual open house at all three of its campuses Aug. 13.

But this year’s event was unlike all previous open houses over the past several years. When the covid-19 epidemic canceled all in-house instruction, forcing districts across the state to hold all classes online, education was changed.

As the summer progressed and the number of confirmed cases in Arkansas made a dramatic rise, the start of the new school year, especially in-house instruction, was in doubt. In spite of all the neg- atives concerning in-house instruction, the Arkansas Health Department and Gov. Asa Hutchinson released school districts across the state to open up.

Be it two weeks later than originally planned, schools are cleared to proceed with their plans, provided they follow strict covid-19 guidelines like social distancing and masks.

With pandemic protocols in place, Decatur’s School District invited its students and their parents to come and see the new teachers and new surroundings, particularly the pre-K classes which moved back to their original classrooms at Northside Elementary School.

In the coming years, the renovation of Decatur High School will take over the old pre-K building, making way for a new cafeteria and band/choir rooms. To keep the number of people in the buildings to acceptable levels, school administrators decided to use the first letter of the student’s last name and set up designated times during the day for visits to each campus.

In all, about 300 students, parents and family members visited Decatur Middle and High schools and Northside Elementary School during the seven hour event.

The first day of school for both in-house and virtual classes is set to begin Monday.

For more information go to the School District’s website at decatursd.com.

(NWA Democrat-Gazette/Mike Eckels) Parents and students wait Aug. 13 to have their temperatures checked before proceeding down the hall at Decatur Middle School. The School District held its annual open house at all three campuses.

(NWA Democrat-Gazette/Mike Eckels) James Garner (right) talks Aug. 13 to Ben Watkins (center) about his sophomore English class, as his sister Emily (left) and parents Elizabeth and Steven look on during the open house at Decatur High School.

(NWA Democrat-Gazette/Mike Eckels) Janet Barkley (left) talks Aug. 13 to the parents of one of her new students during the open house at Northside Elementary School in Decatur.