Farmington Principal Ready For Teachers To Arrive

FARMINGTON — Bob Echols, principal for Farmington High’s new Freshman Academy, can barely contain his excitement.

He’s ready for his ninth grade teachers to arrive for professional development and then the students a few days later.

“I’m just excited to have these kids here on the 19th. I’m really fired up about it,” Echols said.

Echols is expecting about 195 ninth-graders for the 201314 school year. The Freshman Academy will be located on the western end of the senior hall. A glass wall and door have been installed in the hallway to separate the seven classrooms from the rest of the building.

New student desks have been placed in the rooms, along with some new items for the teachers, such as office chairs and file cabinets.

Teachers in the Freshman Academy will be Jed Beale and Tracy Sutton for social studies, Melissa Carter and Amy Taylor for math, English teachers Aly Martin and Belyn Rodgers and science teachers Charice Handford and Michael Jackson. Some of these teachers also will teach courses for 10th-12th grades.

Dawn Hill will teach the Keystone program, which is a semester-long class to introduce ninth-graders to high school and help them focus on study skills, raising test scores, time management, long-term and short-term goals and looking at college and career options.

Rodgers, who will teach one English class and one speech class for the academy, said research shows that a lot of kids will decide during their freshman year that they want to drop out of high school.

The idea, Rodgers added, is to help the students in transitioning to high school by focusing on their needs.

Echols said students will, be in classes with only ninth graders, including their electives. For the most part, they will attend classes in the Freshman Academy building but also will go to other areas of the campus for some courses, including band, agriculture, arts or drama.

While the students will be with only ninth- graders, Echols said he wants to assure students and parents that the students still will be a part of the high school community.

A freshman orientation will be held from 1-3 p.m., Aug. 15 and open house will be 3-6 p.m. Aug. 15 for all students.