NEW SUMMERFIELD, Texas — It's the first week of August and it's also the first day of classes for some East Texas school districts. That includes students at New Summerfield ISD. who began their 2024-25 school year Monday morning.
New Summerfield ISD Superintendent Joe Brannen said everything went really smooth and there were no big hiccups during the first day of school.
"It's exciting for us to see the kids show up today and smiles on their face. And teachers are excited to get the new year started rolling and we look forward to a great year," Brannen said.
He noted that the 2024-25 year is the third academic year that NSISD has used the four-day school week method, adding the schedule has gone well for the 2A school district.
"I think that it's helped us recruit and retain good teachers," Brannen said. "And I think that's a reflection of the way our scores turned out last spring. People want to come here, and that's exciting for our district."
This past year, Brannen said the district's state assessment scores were great with New Summerfield outperforming the state in 17 out of 20 tests.
"So we're very proud of our teachers and our students for the hard work that goes into that. And we look to build on that this year," he said.
Brannen added that some challenges for New Summerfield ISD include changes to state funding and working to maintain safety standards to keep kids and teachers safe.