HOUSTON COUNTY, Ga. — Parents, it's about that time! Many of your children are approaching their first day of the new school year, and with that comes open house!
Houston County Schools are hosting over 30 meet and greet sessions and several new-student orientations.
This is where students can meet their teachers before the school year starts.
The district hosts meet and greets and new student orientations so that parents will know who will be watching their children and so children can get to know who is teaching them.
The reason they're hosting so many sessions this year, is to reduce the number of people in the building at one time, due to COVID-19.
Richard Rogers is the deputy superintendent of Houston County Schools, but outside of work, he's a father to two girls, both enrolled in the district.
He says meeting your child's teacher before the first day of school, gives parents a sense of relief.
"You want to feel the school, you want to meet the teachers, you want to walk in his or her classroom and know where your baby is going to be," Rogers said.
While Rogers is preparing for his daughters meet and greet, he's helping the district get ready as well.
"We are having meet and greets, and welcoming our students here to Houston County, we're just thrilled to have them in person," he said.
The Houston County School district hosts meet and greet sessions to prepare students and families for the school year.
At the sessions parents and their children can meet their teachers, view schedules, tour the school and see the classrooms they will be in.
Krystal Tucker is an Interrelated teacher at northside elementary.
"I'm ready to have meet and greet this Friday with my students, be able to hear all about their summer stories, and begin building relationships with my families," Tucker said.
Tucker says she's been looking forward to this years meet and greet because it will be in person.
"Last year, we had a drive-thru meet and greet, it was a lot different, it was very quick, very informal. We did get to meet our families, but this year they get to tour our schools and it really puts that ease of mind with our families being able to see the protocols that we have in place," she said.
Rodgers says this year, they will stagger out the times and dates of the sessions for the safety of students, families, and teachers.
"We lengthened the times of our meet and greets and orientations, and a lot of principals will use those times to strategically say, 'lets have all third grade parents at this time' or all fourth grade parents at this time," Rodgers said.
He says if you have more than one child in the district, you can call the school and schedule one day to meet, so that you don't have to go back more than once.
The first set of meet and greets kick off this Thursday, July 29. They'll last until August 2, which is the day before children go back to school.