Shine your apples, boys and girls: It's that time again

At Spaulding and Nute, the time has come to hit the books.(Courtesy photos)

It’s time to put away the fishing poles and skateboards as another school year begins tomorrow in Milton and Rochester with educators looking to continue strides already begun in both technology and enrichment.

Rochester Schools Superintendent Michael L. Hopkins said students in 10 classrooms at the elementary and middle school levels for the first time will have their own Ipad throughout the school day. He said it was an experiment into how well the technology would integrate with learning on an individualized basis.

In the MSAD 60 school system, which comprises Berwick, North Berwick and Lebanon, students from seventh grade through graduation have had their own laptops for several years now, and Hopkins said Rochester will be trying to implement some of the same programs in the coming years.

“We’re looking to do what they’re doing in Maine,” Hopkins said on Monday.

Rochester schools have been using Ipads for two years now, but they have been distributed by teachers on a class by class basis. This is the first year some students will have the same hardware throughout the school day.

While overall enrollments have been fairly steady with last year, Hopkins did say kindergarten and first-grade classes had seen some increases and one first-grade class had to be added at the McClelland School.

He said projections hadn’t shown the increase in younger students but it happened nonetheless.

He said class sizes were generally 18-22 for kindergarten through second grade and 20-25 for third and up.

Over at SAU #64, Superintendent Michael Tursi, who replaced Jay McIntire in July, will be beginning his first day of school as a chief administrator.

Tursi recently said he was looking forward to meeting the students as they return to Milton and Wakefield classroom tomorrow and anticipating another fruitful year of learning and enrichment.

He told The Lebanon Voice in July that he was dedicated to providing “as many opportunities for students as I can.” 

Tursi held a series of public forums earlier this month to outreach to community members and parents and make them aware of various student opportunities for learning that are in place within the school system.