Hot Springs ready for school

HOT SPRINGS – The first day of school is right around the corner for the youth of Hot Springs as the month of August and the summer season draws to a close.

Students, the accompanying faculty and staff will see a few changes at both the high school and the elementary school at the beginning of this year’s fall semester.

“We have quite a few changes for this year,” Superintendent Kevin Meredith said.

Most notably, a number of new individuals will be joining the faculty and staff.

The new faces who will join the Hot Springs community in the fall will include Wade Ingle, who will teach science courses for the seventh through twelfth grade classes at Hot Springs High School.

The seventh through twelfth grade students will also have a new teacher directing their English classes, as Meagan Smith has joined the teaching team for the school.

Additionally, the math classes for seventh through twelfth graders will see a new face in the teacher’s chair. Katrina Engeldrum will be in charge of the high school’s math classes in the coming year.

In both schools Laura Clairmont will be the new special education teacher, handling the duties for grades K through 12.

Meredith said he was looking forward to the start of the school year and the beginning of the year is always a fun time of the school year.

“Every year there is always a little excitement around the first day of school,” Meredith said.

In addition to all the new faces at Hot Springs High School, Meredith explained the role of both principals needed to be transitioned.

Meredith said instead of having one full time principal for the high school and the elementary students, the school has transitioned to two half-time principals.

One of the half-time principals will work with high school students and the other will spend time with the students of the elementary school.

Chris Clairmont will be the principal at the high school, while Steve Morgan will be the principal at the elementary school.

Despite all the changes the superintendent fully expects the teachers and staff to be ready for the first day of school since the changes were made earlier in the year.

“We were able to make most of them happen pretty early in the summer,” Meredith said.

Some students will no doubt be disappointed to see their summer vacations come to a close. However, Hot Springs students can look forward to a year with brand new playground equipment.

The final touches on the new playground were made by members of the 4-H Club, the Hot Springs Wranglers, who finished the project by spreading wood chips over the playground’s surface on July 25.

According to Meredith, the Hot Springs schools average an enrollment of 200 children and they are right around the total for this school year.

The students and teachers of Hot Springs will kick off their new year of academic studies the day after Labor Day on Tuesday, Sept. 2.