Henryville students return to school Monday

Students in West Clark Community Schools are back to school Monday after tornadoes destroyed the K-12 Henryville, Ind., school complex.

While the complex is still damaged, grades K-6 will go to class at the Graceland Baptist Academy in New Albany, Ind., while grades 7-12 will be at the Mid-America Science Park in Scottsburg, Ind.

“It was a pretty smooth start. Most of the students arrived on time and seemed excited,” said John Reed, assistant superintendent for West Clark Community Schools. “Some of them haven’t been able to see their friends since the tornado.”

The main goal for the educators now is to get students back to a routine before moving forward. Reed said teachers will be using self-pacing programs to get students back to speed. Their biggest goal is to prepare their high-school seniors for graduation and their other students to move to the next grade level.

“We want to get the kids back in and settled, make sure they are emotionally ready,” Reed said. “Our big challenge will be to evaluate where they’re at since they’ve missed so much school.”

School has been out in Henryville for four weeks, and Reed said the schools will be applying to the state to waive the 180 days of instruction required by the Indiana Department of Education. Otherwise, students will be forced to stay in class during the summer to make up for lost time.

Indiana DOE spokesman Alex Damron said the application often includes newspaper clips, police reports or other evidence as the reason for the waiver.

“We haven’t received one yet, but when we do, our goal is to work with the local school officials to figure out what is best for the students in Henryville,” Damron said. “The 180 day rule is very important to us. It is vital that our children get that much time in a classroom. However, there are situations where a waiver is appropriate.”

Reed said that without the strong community support and donations from across the state, the district would not have been ready for classes to begin again.

“It really has been an amazing thing to witness as so many surrounding communities and businesses came to help out,” Reed said. “Without their help, we would not be back in school today.”