RENO -- More than 45,000 students headed back to their classes Monday as 65 Washoe County schools opened their doors to begin the traditional 2012-2013 school year. These schools join more than two dozen schools already in session, and bring a majority of the District’s 63,000 students back into their classrooms to launch the new school year.

“This is an exciting day for all of us—students, teachers, principals, and parents,” said Superintendent Pedro Martinez. “Our staff members have been working hard to prepare their classrooms for the new school year, and I have looked forward to spending this first day in the schools with them and their students. All of us are anxious to see their successes and achievements unfold this year.”

Martinez, joined by several members of the Board of Trustees, began the day before dawn at the WCSD bus yard, meeting with drivers as they readied their buses for daily rounds. From there, he met with students at a bus stop near downtown and rode with them to Clayton Middle School for a tour. Martinez then joined students at Sierra Vista Elementary School for breakfast, toured Washoe Innovations High School and Sparks Middle School, met with a student from Washoe Online Learning for the Future (WOLF), and finished his day with a tour of Reed High School.

As the school day progressed, teams of area superintendents and support staff also visited every school in the District, providing assistance wherever it was needed and identifying areas in need of follow-up. Beginning on the first day of school and continuing throughout the first week, these teams will meet with Martinez in the afternoons to discuss these challenges and work on ways to address them.

“As a former teacher, principal, and administrator, I know how difficult and challenging it is to launch a new school year,” said Board of Trustees President Ken Grein. “But this overwhelming effort is crucial to the success of the children in our District, and we are happy to see them return to their academic pursuits on this first day of school.”
Additional back-to-school information about transportation, nutrition, and immunizations is available on the WCSD website at http://washoecountyschools.org/schools/back-to-school