The first day at a new school was bound to be a little chaotic.
A long line of cars queued up on Kentucky Street, waiting to turn into the driveway at Iola Elementary School between 7:30 and 8 a.m.
At one point, the line to the south got so long it reached U.S. 54, preventing traffic from turning onto Kentucky. Police officers and school staff quickly ushered vehicles through the line, forming two lanes as they reached the front of the school. Staff helped students out of vehicles; any families that wanted to pose for first-day photos were asked to first park in the large parking lot.
USD 257 administrators and staff did their best to prepare for students and families to arrive at the new facility on Wednesday, even as they acknowledged the need for flexibility.
“We talked to other schools that built new schools, and they said the first day is the worst,” Dan Willis, school board president, said.
He was among a handful of board members and administrators who were on hand Wednesday morning to see how the morning went.
“I saw some moms and dads driving separate cars so they could drop off their students and then go to work. I saw a lot of grandparents,” Willis said. “So I don’t think we’ll have this many cars every day. I’m optimistic it will get better.”
The morning drop-off lane was clear by 8 a.m. Administrators met with Willis and police officers immediately afterward to talk about ways to improve the process.
But then, the school still had to get through the pickup process that afternoon.
Willis expected that would be a very different challenge. Morning drop-off times are staggered, as parents arrive at a time that’s most convenient for their schedule. In the afternoon, everyone would arrive at once.
The afternoon pickup process also seemed to face traffic backups.
AFTER students arrived, they either headed to the commons area for breakfast or went straight to the gymnasium.Staff guided students through the hall to the gym.
About 600 students gathered on the bleachers with their classmates before heading to their rooms. They filled the bleachers on either side of the gym, waiting to be welcomed by Principal Andy Gottlob and Assistant Principal Tiffany Koehn before morning announcements.
The entire student body also gathered for a massive photo in front of the school, something that will go down in the history books as the first new school to be built in Iola in more than 70 years.
Still to come is a bell, installed at Iola’s first school in 1868 and which has been undergoing refurbishment. It will be permanently placed outside the school.
