970 students
on opening day
Elementary schools crammed; Ward has 964 students
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The Clemmons Courier - If it were a high school, Southwest Elementary would be playing in the 2A division with Carver and Atkins.
That’s how big the K-5 school was Monday, opening with 970 students.
“We’re pretty large,” said principal Mike Hayes. The school added a seven-classroom pod for the fifth grade this year, anticipating the growth.
All the area elementary schools reported a good first day with a bumper crop of students.
Clemmons Elementary had 860; Lewisville Elementary, 700; Ward also had a whopping enrollment, 964.
“They’re still coming in,” said principal Wendy Johnson.
Light showers greeted the students in the morning, but that didn’t dampen their spirits, principals said.
“There were a couple of parents with tears, but the students didn’t seem to have too many,” said Ramona Warren, assistant principal at Clemmons.
A year ago, Clemmons opened with 760 students and kept growing throughout the year.
“We’re growing,” Warran said. The school has seven kindergarten classes. Those students reported with their parents for only an hour on Monday.
Southwest gets the prize for being the biggest. The extra classrooms helped the school absorb the growth.