Jefferson schools open

JEFFERSON - Jefferson City Schools opened for the new year Friday with 21 new classrooms at the middle school.

There is also a new agriculture barn at the high school.

At the elementary school, students began arriving as early as 7 a.m. greeted by a brightly painted "welcome back" sign and a special "friend" of the school, Dottie, a golden retriever.

Marie Underwood, a speech pathologist at the school, said the students were excited to see Dottie.

"She's missed them all summer," she said.

By 8 a.m., the students were settling into their classrooms, greeting old friends and meeting new ones and their teachers.

In Becki Garner's class, first-graders began drawing self-portraits, which they will do again at the end of the school year. Garner said she is looking forward to teaching her students about writing this year.

"It's so neat how they just begin...as little young writers and by the end of first grade seeing how far they've grown," she said.

School system officials said earlier this week they expect an enrollment this year of 2,630 - an increase of 134 students over the end of last year. The elementary school has about 700 students.