FCSD BOE Discusses First Days Of School, Enrollment, Summer Programs

FULTON – The Fulton City School District Board of Education met last night, Tuesday, September 13, when it discussed the first few days of school, enrollment data, and this year’s summer programs.

Director of Human Resources and Student Services Geri Geitner sat in for Superintendent Brian Pulvino during the meeting and gave his report, including the opening of the new school year.

“Some things that were jotted down and noted: Lots of smiling children and adults,” Geitner said. “Many ‘getting to know you’ activities. There was skipping, which is always a great sign. Lots of hugs, high fives and fist bumps. Spotless new sneakers and fresh school supplies. Lots of love, dedication, and enthusiasm from our staff. Families who acknowledged they were leaving their children in good hands. Shining floors and beautiful bulletin boards. Learning that was already underway in the first few minutes of the first day. And pride from everybody who was there because they knew that what we do is important and that they were making a difference.”

She said the custodial staff had the school grounds looking amazing for the first day of school, and administration was there to help work out any glitches.

Chief of Operations and Innovation Dr. Dominick Lisi said he was excited to see how engaged students were already.

Geitner then moved on to sharing the district’s enrollment data, as of Friday, September 9. In the whole district, there are 3,146 students, which is eight students less than enrolled at the beginning of the last school year.

This includes 1,629 in the elementary schools, 510 in the junior high, and 1,007 in the high school. There are also 135 UPK students enrolled.

Geitner also compared the east and west side elementary school sizes, with the west side being larger by 140 students and 7.5 sections (classes). She said she is happy that there are now again officially over 1,000 students at G. Ray Bodley High School.

While reporting on the enrollment numbers as of Friday, since then, Geitner said each school has enrolled some more students.

Geitner also discussed an overview of the district’s summer programs this year, which she said served about 440 students across all grades. The Bridges2Success program targets students entering grades K-4, students had six weeks of literacy, fundamental math skills, and social-emotional learning focused activities.

This summer, several activities were based around the children’s book, “Nim’s Island,” by Wendy Orr.

The Community School Summer program is a four-week program for students entering grades 5-8, and also helps students who have not met the requirements to move on to 9th grade.

For both the Bridges2Sucess and Community School Summer programs, Challenge Island visited for STEAM education based around the “Nim’s Island” theme.

Lastly, participating high schoolers benefited from the GRB Institute mini-courses, which were one week each with the option to go for four weeks. Mini-courses included: journaling/photography, cooking, iRacing and eSports, theater, mindfulness and mediation, art, music, poetry and lyrics, tch, and CPR certification.

High schoolers were also offered an academic recovery program for Regents classes.

Lastly, 44 students with disabilities participated in the extended school year program, which lasted for 30 days, and was a continuation of services and programs to prevent regression.

“I do want to take the opportunity to thank the staff who worked this summer,” Geitner said. “Looking back at the school year and how challenging that was, for our teachers, teaching assistants, aides, to step up and take on the summer programming, we really appreciate that extra effort. They know our students, they know our curriculum and our programs, and having a consistent Fulton City School District staff in these programs makes a huge difference for our students and families.”

Geitner also thanked the coordinators of the summer programs.

Lisi then took over to give a brief overview on updates with the district’s capital improvement projects, including nearing completion of sidewalks at GRB and the tennis court area, and that the district has received its order of turf material. More progress can be viewed here.

The board then moved on to approving all items on the agenda. The full meeting can be viewed here.

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