Freshman arrive at Parker High ahead of Janesville’s first day of school

JANESVILLE, Wis. (WMTV) - Freshman headed into the classroom a day early in the School District of Janesville Thursday.

Orientation for 9th grade students at both Parker High School and Craig High School gave the students a chance to get familiar with their new schools ahead of the official first day on Friday.

Principal Chris Laue said while many districts are combating staffing shortages, Parker High School will be fully staffed as of Friday, including some particularly special new teachers.

“We have four teachers that are joining our staff this year that are former Parker graduates, all of which actually I handed their diploma to them once, so it’s a huge compliment to me that they would want to come back here,” said Laue.

The School District of Janesville’s new Superintendent, Mark Holzman, said the focus now is to retain their new hires for several years to come.

“As we see the opportunities for hiring new teachers is more challenging, we want to make sure we do a great job of providing opportunities for growth here at school,” explained Holzman.

At Parker High, Laue said he and his staff spent the summer reevaluating their curriculum to ensure they are helping students recover from pandemic learning loss by, “having extra staff in math and English Language Arts so we can help fill those gaps.”

With inflation also impacting many families’ budgets this year, not all students may be able to arrive for their first day with new clothes and a completed school supply list.

Holzman wanted to remind district families that there are non-profit and other community supports in place to provide items for students, even after the school year starts.

“We have closets where they can get backpacks and clothes and shoes and all kinds of materials. They just need to come into our guidance office, and we will help them with whatever they need,” explained Holzman.

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