School bells signal end of summer
Parents and kids head back to school at Garden Heights on the first day 2014. School starts later this week in some local school districts, next week at others.
MOSES LAKE — Summer might not be officially over until mid-September, but summer is really over when school starts.
Depending on the school, summer is over late this week or early next week. Warden schools opened today for all students but kindergarten. Kindergarten kids will have orientation Wednesday and Thursday, and Friday will be their first official day of school. Othello schools open Thursday, with the exception of kindergarten. Parents of kindergarten students will meet with classroom teachers before Aug. 30, which is the first day of school for kindergarten. Construction is continuing on 14th Avenue in Othello and the road is closed past Wahitis Elementary. For now, 10th Avenue to Scootney Road is the access route for parents and others coming and going from Wahitis. The goal is to keep that route open all during construction, said Othello city administrator Wade Farris, although it may be closed temporarily periodically during construction. A “clearly marked” route for pedestrians along 14th Avenue will be ready for school, Farris said. Other local schools open next week. Tuesday is the first day of school in Ephrata for first-graders through high school. Kindergarten students start with the “kindergarten rodeo” at Columbia Ridge and Grant elementary schools, the district schools with kindergarten programs. The kindergarten rodeo is Aug. 30 and 31 and Sept. 1; parents of incoming kindergarten students set up appointments for their children to get hearing and vision checks and tour the kindergarten classrooms. September 2 is the first day of school for kindergarten students. Tuesday is also the first day of school in Wilson Creek for first-graders through high school students and for 3-year-old preschool students. Four-year-old preschool starts Wednesday. Kindergarten students Thursday. Wilson Creek parents and students are invited to “Back to School Night,” from 5 to 6:15 p.m. Monday. Parents can meet teachers and staff, and school administrators and teachers will talk about expectations and commitments for the school year. Soap Lake schools open their doors Wednesday for all students. Kindergarten students will attend half-days through Sept. 16. All Soap Lake parents and students are invited to a school open house and community dinner, from 5:30 to 7 p.m. Tuesday in the Soap Lake Elementary cafeteria, 410 South Ginko St. School doors open in Quincy Wednesday for all students. Pioneer and Monument elementary schools will hold open house for parents and students Monday. Parents and kids can meet teachers and look at the school from 4 to 6 p.m. at Pioneer and from 4:30 to 6 p.m. at Monument. Seventh-graders get orientation from the eighth-graders on seventh-grade “Web Day,” scheduled for 8 to 11:30 a.m. Tuesday. Eighth-graders show seventh-graders around the junior high school and, according to the school website, “give seventh-graders the tools they need to start off the year right.” School starts for most students Wednesday, but there are exceptions. Only sixth-graders attend school on Wednesday in Chief Moses Middle School. Only freshmen attend classes Wednesday at Moses Lake High School. Seventh- and eighth -graders start Thursday at CMMS, and so do sophomores, juniors and seniors at MLHS. All Frontier Middle School and Endeavor Middle School students start classes Wednesday. Conferences for parents of kindergarten students district-wide are scheduled for Aug. 31 and Sept. 1 and 2. The first day of school for kindergarten students depends on the last name. Kids whose last name starts with A through L begin Sept. 6, Kids with M to Z last names begin Sept. 7. All Moses Lake kindergarten students start class Sept. 8.