New Watson Chapel School District chief makes the rounds

Keith McGee went from campus to campus and from classroom to classroom on his first school day as the Watson Chapel School District’s superintendent Monday.

“Are you excited to be back in school?” he asked one class at Watson Chapel High School. The students appeared not to be.

In another class, the students were more vocal in their appreciation for a new school year.

“We’re going to have a good school year,” he assured them.

Then he asked what he really wanted to know from the students: “Are you excited you’re not in school uniforms?” Those who answered did so in the affirmative.

“I’m the one who did that,” McGee told them.

McGee convinced the district board last month to drop its longstanding policy of wearing the same-color polo shirts and khakis. The teenagers took advantage of the move, staying within the new rules for everyday dress, of course.

As part of the new dress code, each student and staff member must display an identification badge at all times.

“We’ve had to reiterate some parts of the dress code with young ladies and young men, but overall I think that’s lifted a huge burden (of supervision),” said Jeffrey Neal, beginning his first year as Watson Chapel High principal. “We didn’t have to contact anybody and tell them to come change this or change that. I think that eliminates a whole lot of obstacles for us.”

Removing the uniform rule, McGee said, takes down a barrier to learning and a student’s ability to express oneself.

Before making his rounds, McGee took one of the bus routes starting at 6:45 a.m. Ongoing construction of a new high school campus next to the existing one has forced the district to install a new traffic pattern for safe offloading and pickup of students.

Overall, the first school day in Watson Chapel was great, he said, aside from what he called “a couple of hiccups” related to the traffic flow.

McGee plans to start a student leadership council that’s not the same as a student government association but one in which the students are selected by him and building principals.

“We live in a nation where democratic voices matter,” McGee said. “So I believe that all voices matter. In this particular case, I want to hear the students’ voice on how we can transform the school system to better educate them, to live up to our vision — ‘Preparing students today for tomorrow’s opportunities.'”

Some students, faculty and community members lifted their voices in prayer on the campus Sunday. A “Senior Sunrise” was held with seniors gathering at Wildcat Stadium and breakfast provided by the district, as well as New Life Church pastor Matt Mosler praying over the school.

“I thought it was very, very profound, more importantly to see that the people care about the community,” McGee said of the prayer rally. “Not just people inside the community but outside the community. That shows you a lot about the Wildcat Pride. That’s one of the things I’m leading with, reconnecting the Wildcat family.”

Class also began Monday in the White Hall School District. Superintendent Gary Williams reported an enrollment of 3,079, a slight uptick from last Tuesday’s board meeting and an increase of 16 from this time last year.

“I would suspect it would go down maybe a little bit because we may have some students whose enrollment last year carried over from one year to the next who may have moved over the summer,” said Williams, beginning his third year leading the WHSD. “They’re enrolling in their current school, and when that happens, they’ll send us a record request. Once we get that, we’ll send records and drop them from our enrollment.”

It is possible the enrollment could increase for the same reasons, Williams added.

The students seemed excited to be back at school, he reported, although some transitioning from one campus to another may have experienced nervousness about being in new surroundings.

The WHSD has embraced, as Williams termed, a model aimed at improving student-teacher communications called “Capturing Kids’ Hearts.” The program is developed by author and corporate trainer Flip Flippen and has been extended to the high school faculty this year, Williams said.

“Flip Flippen has studied human interaction and has brought together, what I call — it’s not rocket science — but how you treat people in a good way, how you affirm people, how you respect people and how you appreciate the people you are around,” he said.

The Pine Bluff School District began a year-round class calendar July 31.