Here we go. After slightly more than a two-month summer vacation that seemed like two weeks, Wilson County Schools will start classes Friday.
Growing enrollment, building projects, police dogs and staffing are all part of the coming school year.
Here is an overview going into a new academic year in Wilson County.
Calendar highlights
The district will have 89 instructional days in the fall semester and 91 instructional days in the spring semester with 10 days available for inclement weather closings. There are some differences with the Lebanon Special School District calendar with many families having children in both systems.
Wilson County's calendar includes:
Aug. 2: First day of classes for students following Election Day, which requires multiple schools to be used as voting centers. The Lebanon's Special School District for students up to eighth-grade is scheduled to start Aug. 1.
Oct. 7-15: Fall break for students with a full week and two additional days the following week for students who return Wednesday, Oct. 16. Teachers are back Oct. 15.
Nov. 5: Election Day with no classes for students.
Nov. 25-29: Thanksgiving break.
Dec. 20: Final day of the fall semester leading into winter break.
Jan. 6: First day of classes for the spring semester.
March 10-14: Spring break.
Feb. 14-Feb. 17: No classes Friday, Feb. 14 (stockpile day) and no school Monday, Feb. 17 (Presidents Day).
Spring break: The week of March 11-15.
April 18: No classes (Good Friday).
May 22: Last day of school:
Two police dogs coming
Two firearm detection dogs were approved for Wilson County Schools this academic year.
The selected handlers will attend training with the canines that are selected through the Global K9 Paws on Patrol Program in Alabama, Wilson County Sheriff Office Capt. Scott Moore said.
The dogs will be on “no particular schedule … so that no one can predict what they will be doing,” Moore said. The main focus will be high schools, but the animals will be accessible to all schools and will make visits to every school, Moore said. The dogs will also be available for bigger events and activities when their presence is requested by the school system.
Training is expected to be finished around mid-August and the dogs will then work in schools across the district. The Lebanon Special School District brought in Deputy Dusty Burton and police dog Blaze in the 2023-24 school year.
“The use of these valuable K-9’s adds an additional layer of security for our schools and sporting events," Wilson County Schools Public Information Officer Bart Barker said. "We are a large district with large buildings, so having these K-9 officers available to our schools gives us additional resources that helps maintain a safe environment for everyone. Their capabilities are incredible on detecting things that are strictly prohibited from our campuses."
Tornado rebuild
The new West Wilson Middle School building opens this school year after the previous building was destroyed in the March 2020 tornado.
Last school year West Wilson Middle sixth- and seventh-graders were attending Mt. Juliet Middle while Mt. Juliet Middle eighth-graders went to Green Hill High and West Wilson Middle eighth-graders were at Mt. Juliet High.
The start and dismissal time for West Wilson Middle will be 8:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m.
New principals
Mt. Juliet Middle: Lee Nachand is the new principal for 2024-2025 school year. Nachand has been an assistant principal at Green Hill High School for the last three years. Nachand replaces Candis Angle who announced her retirement during this past school year.
West Elementary: Taimi Reese was named the new principal at West Elementary after three years as an assistant principal at Southside. Ashley Hough is the new assistant principal at West. Reese replaces Alex Juneau who accepted a job outside the district.
New building projects
Construction is underway on the future LaGuardo Elementary School with the goal still to open by the start of the 2025-26 school year. The bidding process is about to start on another elementary school on Central Pike toward the south end of the county, Barker said.
Enrollment
The latest projection from July 25 were for 20,533 K-12 students to start the school year. The district had 20,069 students in grades K-12 at the end of the 2023-24 academic year, up 299 students from the end of 2022-23.
These schools were not on the district's open enrollment list based on present and projected enrollments.
Lebanon High School
West Wilson Middle School
Gladeville Elementary School
Mt. Juliet Elementary School
Rutland Elementary School
Stoner Creek Elementary School
Springdale Elementary School
West Elementary School.
Schools that will utilize portable classrooms this year include: West Elementary, Gladeville Elementary and Mt. Juliet Middle.
Start and dismissal times
Kindergarten through fifth-grade schools: 7:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m.
K-8 schools: Carroll-Oakland – 7:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m.; Southside – 7:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m.; Tuckers Crossroads – 7:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m.
Middle school grades 6-8: Gladeville Middle – 8:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m.; Mt. Juliet Middle – 8:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m.; West Wilson Middle – 8:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m.; Watertown Middle – 7:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m.
High Schools: Green Hill High – 8:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m.; Lebanon High – 8:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m.; Mt. Juliet High – 8:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m.; Wilson Central High – 8:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m.; Watertown – 7:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m.
Teacher and bus driver staffing
The district had approximately 155 drivers as of July 19 and would hope to hire an additional 10-15 drivers for full-time, part-time or substitute work, Barker said.
The district had 1,450 teachers as of July 25, also a number that will likely fluctuate.
Transgender guidelines
The school board formally approved changes to district handbooks to comply with a new state law that addresses parents being notified about transgender students.
The law requires when a student requests an accommodation from a school employee to affirm a different gender identity or the intent to transition to a different gender identity than what is listed at the time of birth — the employee must report that to a school administrator, who must then report it to the student's parents.
Wilson County went forward to document the changes to make sure teachers and school board employees, parents and students are aware of the new law and its responsibilities, officials said.
Reach Andy Humbles at ahumbles@tennessean.com or615-726-5939 and on X, formerly known as Twitter @ AndyHumbles.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Wilson County Schools overview: Dogs, calendar changes and more
