Students begin first week back under 4-day week calendar

The Polk School District on Tuesday welcomes students back to classrooms across 11 campuses as the 2021-22 Academic Year kicked off without any hitches, per Superintendent Dr. Katie Thomas.

She told the board during their August work session in a brief report that included a video presentation.

“We had a great day here in the Polk School District,” Thomas said. “It’s always a crazy day when you go back to school. It requires a lot of patience and flexibility, and this year positivity, which is what we’re focusing on with the district.”

This year, school starts back with students working off of a four-day week, with students who need help catching up after losing months of education at the beginning of the pandemic, then shifting to a four-day week during the 2020-21 school year as COVID cases rose and fell early on in a second wave, and continued to shift throughout the rest of the year.

PSD isn’t offering students the option of distance learning this year, but those who wanted to keep their youth home had the option of choosing online homeschooling programs.

First Day back festivities also included the annual Cedartown High School Senior Sunrise gathering, and Rockmart High School introduced the Class of 2022 in a video as well.

The start of the school year also marks the beginning of the fall sports schedule, with the softball teams opening the year with scrimmages on Thursday afternoon.

The Rockmart Lady Yellow Jackets kick off the year with a scrimmage against Woodland, followed by their first game on Aug. 10 against North Murray. The Cedartown Lady Bulldogs in a scrimmage against Heard County on Thursday as well on the road.

Check back for additional info on sports schedules and more later this week.