Although students may not have looked forward to today, new principals at Frankfort Independent Schools are excited for their first day of school.
Frankfort High/Middle School Principal Melissa Wainwright and Second Street School Principal Travis Harley both said they were excited to start, although Harley admitted he's a little nervous.
"There's no excitement that doesn't come without a little bit of fear of the unknown," Harley said.
FIS hired both administrators from outside the district, along with FHMS Assistant Principal Chris Salyers. Harley said the transition has been easy because of the work of former principal Rich Crowe, now FIS superintendent.
"It's not like I'm coming in to fix anything, it's good," Harley said. "I'm just going to try and plug myself in where I can be of service."
Wainwright said she will lead by drawing on the district's history.
"I definitely want to keep the traditions alive," she said. "I told the staff today that we need to remember the traditions and celebrate them and that we're in the business of making new traditions."
Both principals will spend the day meeting with individual grades to introduce themselves and discuss expectations for the year.
"I'll be talking to each individual group (today) and really hoping that I set the stage for what will take place in the classroom every single day," Harley said.
FHMS will use the slogan " "We are Frankfort" " throughout the year to show it takes everyone to be a successful school, Wainwright said.
"It takes the whole community, parents, students, teachers, all staff members, working together to be Frankfort Middle High School," Wainwright said.
Instilling responsibility and leadership qualities is a theme at both schools. Wainwright urged students of all grades to be leaders, while Harley will spend mornings teaching 5th and 6th graders about being
role models for the rest of the school.
"I want to teach them to be responsible and basically be able to lead this school so that future generations will want to fill in their space," Harley said.
Character education, accountability and test taking strategies will be some of the subjects covered in the class, which Harley wants to be an open forum between him and students.
"I don't want (students) to treat me differently than anybody else," Harley said. "We'll have open conversations and be honest with each other and really focus on (people) skills that will be long lasting."
Harley said communication with students is one of his strong points, along with organization and seeing the big picture.
Wainwright said she wants her school to be a safe environment that expects a lot of its students.
"I want high expectations academically and behaviorally, I want us to be the best school in the capital city," she said.
"We need to be the place where people come to say, "that's what education looks like."
With the faculty and staff in place, Wainwright said she expects to fulfill those expectations.
"I think we have an awesome team of educators, with everybody working together I really think it's going to be a successful year."