News : Back to school: Shellsburg students begin 2015-16 school year with flag raising

Dakota Slager holds the flag as Mrs. Hanson's students recite the Pledge of Allegiance.

Shellsburg Legion Post 166 joined students for the opening day flag-raising and donated a new flag.

Shellsburg students gathered outside for an opening day ceremony with American Legion Post 166 members, who presented the school with a brand new flag.

Veterans raised the flag, and Principal Ryan Davis led the students in the first Pledge of Allegiance of the year before students went to their classrooms for the first day of school on Monday morning.

At Tilford and other buildings, students became acquainted with teachers, classmates and guidelines, received textbooks and began their first lessons and art projects.

Mrs. Hanson's 2nd grade class learned the proper etiquette for standing for the Pledge of Allegiance. Mrs. Otto's art students worked on a collaborative project featuring concentric circles. Students and teachers shared their summer experiences as well as their hopes for the coming school year.

The biggest change for students was the later start date, something required by the State of Iowa but not favored by local families.

At Tilford and VS Middle School, new entrances will require visitors to use separate doors after 8:30 and enter the building through the office. This procedure has become a standard security measure for most schools.

Superintendent Mary Jo Hainstock explained some of the changes.

"There were some complications in implementing the new start date," she said. "First, it was not what a majority of our families had ever indicated as their preference because there is the risk that we will need to go into June much later than we have in the past – and it is hard to predict because it will be contingent on the winter’s weather and how many late starts, early outs or no school days we have. It also meant we had our fall blow out last Friday before we’d had school – and that our middle school students have not had any practices so some of them may not have known about the event."

Good news about Highway 218

One thing that worked well for schools, says Hainstock, is that most of the road work on 218 south has been completed and so there shouldn’t be as many delays for school busses.

Enrollment estimates

It's always hard to tell the exact enrollment at this point, says Hainstock.

"We have 1498 students who are enrolled and our records indicate we anticipated another 100 students," says the superintendent. "Some of the 100 will get registered today but some probably moved and are attending another district (which we should find out soon)."

The district, she says, has 127 kindergarten kids -- one of the larger classes at V-S in several years.

"It is more than the number of seniors who graduated last year. This may be one indication of some good news as far as enrollment," says Hainstock.