By Heather Bell
RADFORD – Half of Radford City Public School’s students will head back to the classroom this
Monday, Aug. 16, and the other half will start the school year on Tuesday, Aug. 17.
On Monday, grades pre-K, 1, 3, 5, 7, 9 and 11 will go to the first day of school. Those grades will not go to school on Tuesday, giving grades kindergarten, 2, 4, 6, 8, 10 and 12 a chance to have their first day.
“This gives our campuses a chance to focus on half the students at a time for the first day of school,” said Radford Superintendent Robert Graham in a recent interview. “We want things to go as smoothly as possible and be a great experience for our students and our staff.”
A message to school families on rcps.org said, “RCPS is staggering the first day of school to allow students the opportunity to get adjusted to the classrooms, procedures, and schools in a smaller setting.”
That message, along with other information for families can be found under the “Welcome to the 2021-2022 School Year” tab at rcps.org.
The tardy bell rings at 8 a.m. at all schools each day. All grade levels will have two-hour early dismissal on Wednesday, at 12:40 p.m. for all schools. The 12:40 p.m. early dismissals will occur each Wednesday in all grade levels for the entire school year. All grade levels will attend school until 3 p.m. on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays.
Open House is occurring at all schools on Thursday, Aug. 12. At McHarg and Belle Heth elementary schools, teachers have made appointments with each family between 3 and 7 p.m. At Dalton Intermediate and Radford High schools, families are invited to Open House from 4 to 7 p.m.
In his interview, Graham said the school board will make a decision about the use of masks in school buildings at its meeting scheduled for Tuesday, Aug. 10, which occurred after press time.
