Fairfax County’s and D.C.’s public school systems were among those getting their school years started Monday, and students were greeted with fanfare and some new restrictions.
In Fairfax County — and everywhere else in Virginia — students have to give up their cellphones from the first bell until dismissal.
So how are staff and the nearly 180,000 students in the state’s largest school system adjusting to the restrictions?
“It’s hard. It’s an addiction, we know that,” Mount Vernon High School principal Cary Dimmick told WTOP. “These kids are mature. They understand it. If we explain the reason behind it and teach them how to use cellphones in a professional manner, when they leave here, they’ll be able to take that out into the workforce.”
Sadie Sierra, a junior, said, “To be honest, when they had it last year, it wasn’t that effective.”
Other students are frustrated with parts of the new rule.
“I honestly don’t really need my phone. I deleted all the games. The only thing I think is weird is how you can’t even have it during lunch anymore. Like that confuses me,” Williams Thaler, another 11th grader, said.
“I think the biggest struggle for me is focusing because I focus better with music and we can’t have earbuds or headphones,” Natalie McGraw Doyle said.
Teachers such as Blake Huff, who instructs on robotics, constructions technologies and engineering, noticed a difference with cellphones put away during class time.
“The cellphones can be a huge distraction. Sometimes they’re an asset. I’ve had students take photos of projects, materials lists, things of that nature. But more often than not, it’s a distraction,” Huff said.
‘It’s going to be fun!’ First day resembles a party at this DC school
Hundreds of kids at Hyde-Addison Elementary School in Georgetown were greeted Monday by teachers, parents and school administrators. For a good 30 minutes, the sounds of cheers and noisemakers filled the air, as did bubbles from bubble machines, as kids and parents traveled down O Street NW and through the front gate.
“Because it’s going to be fun!” shouted Tahlia, a kindergartener there.
“It’s really friendly,” third grader Izhaah Heath said. “It’s really friendly and there’s no fighting and the teachers are very nice.”
More than 51,000 D.C. Public Schools students were back in class Monday across the District. But parents and staff agreed Hyde-Addison was one of the city’s special schools.
“It’s just the way we love on kids,” math instructional coach Melissa Bryant said. “We genuinely have a heart for children and that shows up in everything we do here at our school.”
“It’s an integral part of the community,” said David Johnson, who was there to drop his kindergartener off.
On what would have otherwise been a picture-perfect summer day, there was enough energy to get kids excited about reading and math again. Though Heath admitted he was torn between his excitement over day one, and the realization that summer was coming to an end.
“Because it was very fun and I was sad to leave all my family,” he said. “But I’m also happy to be here because I have all my friends here too.”
New year, new building in DC
Later in the day, D.C. leaders cut the ribbon on the newly renovated and renamed John Thompson High School, formerly McArthur High School. The school sits along McArthur Boulevard and is just a long 3-pointer away from the Georgetown University campus where Thompson made his name as a basketball coach.
“Coach Thompson combined superlative coaching with fierce and unwavering advocacy for racial justice and educational access for all,” said Mayor Muriel Bowser, who issued a proclamation honoring the D.C. native known as “Big John.”
“We honor the remarkable legacy of Coach Thompson by renaming MacArthur High School the John R. Thompson Jr. High School, enshrining his legendary stature and perpetuating his enduring legacy for generations to come,” Bowser said.
A $91 million renovation helped the school expand from 200 students to 800. It includes a new building and an entire new floor of science classrooms. It’s an honor members of the Thompson family said means a lot.
“It’s clear that this city values what my grandfather did for basketball, but now to see that the city is recognizing him for his belief in the importance of education is truly incredible,” Dylan Thompson, grandson of the Hall of Fame coach, said.
He went out of his way to note his grandfather’s master’s degree in teaching, an achievement not mentioned nearly as often as some of his grandfather’s other accomplishments.
“This isn’t a small charitable organization or rec center or program for kids,” he said. “This is a D.C. public high school that is named after him.”
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