HOLLAND, MI (WHTC) – It was business as usual when Holland Public Schools opened their doors Wednesday, August 24, for the 2016-2017 school year.
Holland High has a new principal too. Katie Pennington has been in the district all Summer and says they are building on the strengths they have in place at the high school. “The elective course offerings that Holland High has are unmatched in terms of things I have seen in other districts and not just the districts where I have worked. Our fine arts program is unbelievable. I am wowed every time I encounter students and teachers from those programs. I would say it’s a definite sell for the district.”
Pennington says she thought the pre-Labor Day start Wednesday would feel a bit abnormal at first, but it didn’t. She says one of the nice things about starting before Labor Day is that the first three weeks of the school year are not full weeks for the students.
“So we really are easing them into a routine when the post Labor Day start really throws them in 100% feet first into a full time school schedule. I know that working with my own kids that’s pretty difficult. Transitioning from Summer to 100% school, getting up early and all the things that go along with that.” Pennington says.
She says for herself and by observation of the staff and students, it felt pretty normal yesterday.
Holland’s Board of Education approved a start date of August 24, 2016, back in May and obtained a waiver to do so. In Michigan under current law, public schools must start after Labor Day, but waivers from the Michigan Department of Education became available for schools to start earlier.
Superintendent Dr. Brian Davis says that since they applied for a waiver back in Spring, 300 other school districts have applied for the waivers.
