6 months ago
ROBBINS, CA - With only two schools in the Winship-Robbins School District in Sutter County, it is among the smallest districts in the state.
But administrators had to hire more teachers to handle an influx of students at Robbins School.
Everyone wore name tags Monday when classes began. First grade teacher Carol Akin explained students and teachers are trying to get acquainted. She said, "We've almost doubled in size. Last year we had about 80 students."
The new faces come from Grafton School in nearby Knights Landing. The Woodland Joint Unified School District decided to close the school in June because of budget cuts and low enrollment. Only 120 students were attending the school.
Robbins now has about 180 students. It means changes both small and large.
Parents and community members came out to help bring in and install a portable for extra class space. School administrators added two lunch periods which means more time and work for staff.
Akin said, "I was out this morning and noticed we need more garbage cans. It's not something we thought of. It's these little things that come up that we just didn't think of."
The increased number of students also means Akin no longer has to teach a combination class with two grades. She has 20 first graders. "I think it's exciting for them and for me," said Akin.
She also has four new colleagues. "So many teachers have been laid off and schools are cutting down their staffs. We were able to almost double the size of our staff this year," Akin said.
Administrators said they were told the Winship-Robbins District was the only district in California that needed to add teachers this year.
The first day of the new school year typically produces some tears among the kindergarten students. But other than that Akin said the first day of class went smoothly.
She also pointed out although the school's population is much larger, it won't lose its tight knit, family atmosphere. "We don't have to look up tests scores on the computer. We carry them around in our heads," Akin said.
"I like that everybody knows each other. Teachers know more than just the students in their classroom. They know all the students from kindergarten to eighth grade."
by Karen Massie kmassie@news10.net
News10/KXTV
