Burgin’s New School Year Is Off To A Great Start

Renovations, Eight New Staff And The Highest Enrollment At Burgin

Jennifer Marsh

jmarsh@harrodsburgherald.com

The first week of school is complete for Burgin Independent and administrators agree school is off to a great start.

“We are pretty excited about it all,” said Superintendent Will Begley. “The bathroom renovations are nearly complete with the partitions set to be delivered any day now.”

Traffic flow has increased with higher enrollment and the staff at Burgin are trying to help cars have a smooth transition during drop off and pick up times.

“The first few days are always rough, but traffic will lighten once Burgin Academy and other after school activities start,” said Matt Grimes, assistant principal and director of pupil personnel at Burgin. “We estimate around 80 percent of students are car riders and that makes things hard.”

Burgin Academy starts on Monday Aug. 20, and is an afer school program that provides homework help, physical activity and snacks for grades K- 8.

In an effort to help morning traffic the Burgin administrators opened drop off at the front door after buses are cleared at around 7:40 a.m.

“The mornings are pretty busy and the afternoons are running slow but that will change after the afterschool activities begin and people get used to the flow,” said Grimes.

“It is important for parents to realize that the school doors do not unlock until 7:30 a.m.,” said Chris LeMonds, Burgin principal. “We have a responsibility for supervision and that doesn’t begin until 7:30 a.m.”

Renovations, 20 new student pathways, eight new staff members and the highest enrollment ever are some of the things Burgin began with this year.

“We have hired some pretty talented staff,” said LeMonds. “They are go-getters and are very innovative.”

The students are experiencing morning and afternoon breaks as well as learning of new classroom organization this school year.

“I think it has been pretty smooth overall, there have been some kinks,” said LeMonds. “I think it is positive for the kids to have breaks, they need the time.”

Administrators are working out the kinks of all the new programs including the break times and anticipate smooth transitions in the near future.

“I would like to encourage parents to get involved at the school,” said LeMonds. “We are only as good as our parent support.”

The Burgin PTO meets the first Thursday of every month with the next meeting scheduled for Sept. 6. at 6 p.m. The Burgin Board of Education meets the second Wednesday of every month with the next meeting being Wednesday, Aug. 8, at 7 p.m.

Both meetings will be Burgin Independent School library.

For more information, visit their website or call the school at 748-5282.

For more, check out this week’s issue of the Harrodsburg Herald.