Back to basics

Granbury ISD will be the first school district in Hood County to open its doors for the 2019 fall semester when it begins classes on Tuesday.

According to GISD Superintendent Jeremy Glenn, students can expect a much deeper curriculum, especially when it comes to reading.

“Some of our programs and curriculums were an inch deep and a mile wide,” Glenn said. “We’re looking at digging deep within our base curriculum and making it an inch wide and a mile deep.

“We have a district-wide reading initiative. We want to really get back to our roots and start emphasizing academics at a much higher level.”

That new focus involves instituting a new reading curriculum in elementary schools, adding an LLI (Leveled Literacy Intervention) specialist to each campus and revamping the district’s dyslexia program.

New extracurricular activities will be added as well, including University Interscholastic League academics at the elementary level and the addition of soccer, tennis and cross country to both middle high athletic programs.

“Lots of kids and parents are excited about that,” Glenn said. “We really have a big push, we want to see kids involved in the school. Not only in an academic classroom, but we want to see kids get involved in a program.”

Glenn also said the district is working toward adding a full-day prekindergarten program, which should begin in 2020.

“Research shows that an economically disadvantaged student comes into kindergarten with 25 percent of the vocabulary as their middle class counterparts,” he said. “Our investment in early childhood education as a district is centered around building literacy and vocabulary at an early age.

“It’s a lot more cost effective for us to get kids on grade level at ages 4, 5 and 6.”

DON’T BE TARDY

Granbury elementary schools will begin first, with classes for prekindergarten to fifth-grade students beginning at 7:30 a.m. The tardy bell rings at 7:40, and school lets out at 3 p.m.

Morning pre-K students are dismissed at 11 a.m., with the afternoon group beginning at 11:30 a.m. and ending at 3 p.m.

At Granbury and Acton Middle Schools, classes begin at 8:36 a.m. and end at 4:15 p.m.

Granbury High School starts at 8:55 a.m. and lets out at 4:25 p.m.

STARS Accelerated High School begins at 8:40 a.m. and ends at 4:10 p.m.

Lipan ISD will begin classes Thursday. All LISD schools start at 7:45 a.m. and let out at 3:30 p.m.

Tolar ISD is the last in Hood County to start school, beginning Wednesday, Aug. 21. Tolar Elementary opens at 7:55 a.m. and ends at 3:25 p.m.

Both Tolar Middle School and Tolar High School start at 8 a.m. and end at 3:35 p.m.