The bell to start the 2023-24 academic year will ring at 8:25 a.m. Thursday, Aug. 10.
At that time, about 200 students are expected to be at their desks at Anna Maria Elementary School, 4700 Gulf Drive, Holmes Beach.
And while the students are settling into their classrooms on the first day of school, parents and other guardians will be gathering in the auditorium for a meet-and-greet.
It’s back-to-school time on AMI.
AME principal Mike Mike Masiello said the enrollment is about the same as in 2022-23.
“Except,” he said, “we have an additional 13 voluntary prekindergarten students enrolled, which puts total enrollment at 200 students.”
Masiello added that AME will continue to accept new enrollments “as they come in.”
The district added a VPK class to the “little school by the bay,” but otherwise the classes per grade level remain the same as last year’s: two kindergarten classes, two first-grade classes, two second-grade classes, two third-grade classes, one fourth-grade class and two fifth-grade classes.
Teachers returned to AME ahead of students to set up classrooms and build lesson plans. Their first staff meeting of the 2023-24 year was Aug. 2 and they also had in-service training.
Some staff are new to AME, including:
- VPK teacher Erin Bobo;
- VPK aide Krista Czajkowski;
- Kindergarten teacher Rachel Frantz;
- Second-grade teacher Sandy Angstadt;
- Gifted teacher Regina Fallgren;
- ESE — exceptional student education — teacher Yu-Lin Hsiao.
Before teachers returned, the custodial staff was at work preparing for the new school year. Masiello said the team had been “hard at work cleaning the school, waxing floors, moving furniture.”
Work over the summer also involved a remodel of the media center, which will be outfitted with new furniture in the first quarter of the school year.
Also, the AME-PTO was at work over the summer, having purchased picnic tables and umbrellas for the school grounds, as well as chairs for the auditorium.
As for “work” during the school year, AME students again will be involved in the Guy Harvey Academy of Arts and Sciences, a partnership involving the school district, AME and the Guy Harvey Foundation.
“This year we will have four new units of study in grades K-5 focusing on marine-science content,” Masiello said. “The lessons will tie into the English language arts, mathematical thinking and reasoning standards, science and engineering practices and art.”
School hours: 8:25 a.m.-3:15 p.m.
Early drop off: After 7:55 a.m.