OGDEN -- City schools will open bright and early Wednesday morning, with many in the district holding back-to-school nights over the next couple of days to give students a closer look at where they will spend much of their time this school year.
The school year starts with several changes, including 12 schools that have different principals. Some are principals for the first time, while others have moved from other schools.
One school, Taylor Canyon, is reopening after being closed two years ago.
Also, the district will be run on a two-semester system instead of the trimester system. The change will have the greatest effect on high schools, in that students will have an eight-period AB schedule, attending four classes each day, rotating among eight classes over two days.
Many schools have moved their early-out days to Friday. That change also relates to the high schools.
Ogden and Ben Lomond high schools offer Ed-Net courses through Weber State and Utah State universities, and those are taught only Monday through Thursday, said Ogden High School Principal Trevor Wilson.
Last year, most schools had early-out or late-start on Wednesdays, and students taking the Ed-Net courses would miss out on important instruction time, so the school board decided it would be best to switch early-out days to Friday for a majority of the district.
Many elementary schools changed to the early-out Friday because of the bus schedules.
"Our priority is getting kids homes safely, and this was the best way to do it," said district spokeswoman Donna Corby.
Dee, Gramercy, Heritage and Horace Mann elementary schools do not participate in the early-out schedule at all.
Hillcrest still will have its early-out on Wednesday, but the rest of the schools in the district will get out between 1 p.m. and 2 p.m. on Fridays, depending on the school and bus schedule.
Corby said the district is looking forward to an excellent year. Principals participated in a leadership academy, and for the past week, teachers have been training with principals.
One of the district's goals this year is to help develop learning communities with school staffs, Corby said.
"We are really applying our vision of empowering excellence through education."
The biggest goal, which was unveiled last spring, is to get all youngsters graduated from high school, Corby said.
"We want all students to have access to high-quality instruction," she said.
All elementaries in the district will have back-to-school nights tonight, as will Mount Ogden and Mound Fort junior highs. Highland Junior High had its back-to-school night Monday night.
Corby advises to check the district website at www.ogdensd.org for specific back-to-school night times today.
Corby said the reason most schools are holding their back-to-school nights today is because of the midweek start to school.
"We choose not to hold events on Monday nights, and so it really only left us with (today)," she said.
District officials believe it's important, especially for elementary schools, to hold back-to-school nights before school starts.
"Those little ones need to come and see their school and meet their teachers before school starts, and we want to give them every chance we can for them to do that," Corby said.
Ogden High School will have an orientation for incoming sophomores and their parents at 5 p.m. today, with schedules being handed out at 6 p.m.
Ben Lomond High School has already held its sophomore orientation, but students are encouraged to come to the school today between 8 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. to pick up class schedules and get pictures taken for student identification cards.
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