Some of the sixth-graders at Bell Elementary were pleased to be sitting in school desks Thursday, while others grumbled over the loss of their summertime freedom.
Summer vacation ended almost a week later for children in the Minot Public School District than at most of the other schools in the area. Earlier this summer, the Minot Public School Board pushed back the start of school after board members decided that starting in the third week of August was just too early.
At Bell Elementary, the start of school comes with a twist. Bell is now a K-6 elementary in the Minot Public School District rather than an independent K-8 school district. Board members voted last year to dissolve the school district and become part of Minot.
Principal Rich Solberg said board members made that decision "for the kids" and the school is already reaping the benefits.
Seventh- and eighth-graders from Bell are now attending middle school in Minot, which freed up space at Bell for an expanded library and media center. Specialists working individually with children will no longer have to compete with noise from physical education classes in the gymnasium. They've been moved to classrooms farther from the gym. Bell Elementary, like other schools in the district, is implementing an educational approach professional learning communities with the aim of boosting test scores across the district.
Solberg said the school is starting a bit earlier and getting out a bit earlier, which will require some adjustment from the kids, but all in all the changes have been extremely positive. Teachers should also benefit from having more resources and being able to network with other teachers in the Minot school district, said Solberg.
The administrator and most of the teachers at Bell stayed on after the school became part of the Minot district.
