EAST ALTON, Ill. – It is a big back-to-school day Wednesday morning for many Illinois school districts in the area. We spent the morning in the East Alton School District, where there was excitement in the air for the first day back at school.
East Alton is a smaller district with only an early childhood center, Eastwood Elementary School, and East Alton Middle School. However, there were still plenty of smiles as the kids headed back to class. The district is home to about 750 kids from pre-kindergarten through the 8th grade.
Crews did some infrastructure work over the summer on the inside of the buildings in the district. The district also got a new playground.
FOX 2 spoke earlier with Katelynne Jones, who is starting her first year as a 3rd grade teacher, and Craig McCann, who is going into the 7th grade. Here is some of what Craig and Katelynne shared.
“Oh, I had enough summer for sure,” Craig revealed. “I hung out with my friends a lot this summer, so I’m kind of excited to be back here.”
Katelynne added, “So these next couple days we will focus on forming our classroom family, making sure the kids are safe and comfortable in this room.”
While lots of Illinois schools are starting this week, next week schools on the Missouri side of the river head back to class.
