MILWAUKEE — So long summer. A new school year is here.
Milwaukee Public Schools opened its doors to 43 of its 160 schools Monday, welcoming back early start students with the kind of red carpet celebration typically reserved for royalty.
"The first day of school feels amazing," said Alderwoman Chantia Lewis. "As one of those parents, I’m like 'yay', it could not have come fast enough."
Alderwoman Lewis has three kids enrolled at Golda Meir, she had reservations about attending the welcome back celebration, but she's glad she did.
"We had a whole debate this morning in our house, should I be here, should I not be here, but overall the kids were saying, 'Yes mom, come on down' because they love the fact that they’re welcomed back like this," Alderwoman Lewis said.
And in the classroom, Superintendent Keith Posley's focus for the district this year is back to the basics 2.0 —focusing on math, reading, and writing proficiency similar to last school year's focus too.
"We're looking at how we go about making sure that all of our young people master those skills and those content areas," Posley said.
Superintendent Posley is ready to put his nose to the grindstone while encouraging his students to do that same, but when asked what his favorite back to school memory is he said, it’s showing up in style.
"[My favorite memories are] new clothes, and new supplies, and meeting all of my new friends," Posley said.
Schools following the traditional calendar still have a few weeks of summer break to enjoy —more than 100 MPS schools and other area districts will head back to the classrooms Tuesday, September 3rd, the day after Labor Day.
