The 2016-2017 school year is just getting underway, but the Avon Grove School District is already taking steps to prepare for the 2017-2018 school year when a full-day kindergarten program will be introduced.

At the Aug. 25 meeting, the Avon Grove School Board approved a contract with Gilbert Architects, Inc. to assist with the procurement of modular classrooms at the Penn London Elementary School. The modular classrooms are being added in preparation for the district's move to full-day kindergarten. The district has also enlisted T & M Associates to handle the engineering services necessary to get approvals from Penn Township for the modular classrooms.

There was no school board meeting in July so the school board had a long list of new hires, resignations, retirements, and special assignments to approve. The school board approved the hiring of more than two dozen staff members for instructional positions and an equal number of appointments for non-instructional positions. More than a dozen resignations were also approved.

One of the resignations was Katie Bish, the district's supervisor of special education. Superintendent Dr. Christopher Marchese explained that the effective date for Bish's resignation will be Oct. 17—or earlier if district officials can bring a new supervisor of special education on board.

Marchese said that the district welcomed back the staff in the week before the new school year got underway, and everyone is looking forward to the school year ahead.

“There's a lot of excitement in the air, and the kids are really charged to start the school year,” Marchese said.

The enrollment for 2016-2017 is projected to be 5,018 students district-wide.

“We are over 5,000 students, and we were not over 5,000 students at the start of the last school year, so we are up on the enrollment,” Marchese said, explaining that he would keep the school board updated on enrollment in the coming weeks.

The district's committee-of-the-whole will meet on Thursday, Sept. 8 at 6 p.m. in the audion at the Avon Grove Intermediate School. The school board will meet again on Thursday, Sept. 22 at 7 p.m. in the audion at the Avon Grove Intermediate School.