Students at North New Summit School will be able to take part in more outdoor physical activities this year thanks to the addition of a walking track.
The Mabel Whitten Walking Path was put in as part of the school’s new health and wellness program, said Susan Floyd, principal/director of North New Summit.
The walking track has been incorporated into the physical education classes and is ready to be used when classes begin, although a dedication ceremony for it will be held later. Some fitness-related educational stations also will be added. The track is named for the mother of Dr. Nancy New, the school’s executive director.
Elementary students have PE classes once a week, and junior high and high school students have them every day.
“We’ve always had PE, but we never had the opportunity to have it outside a whole lot,” Floyd said. “We mostly had it indoors in our gym.”
North New Summit also has new computers in both the high school lab and the elementary school lab. The teachers will have handheld devices to use in the classroom along with projectors and other tools, Floyd said.
The money for the technological improvements has been raised from various sources in recent years, including fall festivals, a horse show and the Drive One 4 UR School program.
Floyd estimated that the school will start the year with about 110 students. This is more than usual; most years, enrollment is about 90 in the fall and grows to about 130 by spring. But Floyd said the growth will be kept under control in keeping with the school’s commitment to small classes.
Four new faculty members join North New Summit this year.
John Mosley, the new assistant principal, will also teach high school history. He comes from J.Z. George High School in North Carrollton, where he taught history.
Paige Turner has joined the school to teach math in the junior high and high schools. Keith Davis will teach science at the high school, and Emmie Daugherty will teach in the lower elementary grades.
North New Summit also has added some classes to its online curriculum, including personal finance, pre-calculus and trigonometry.
Teachers’ orientation and professional development will be held Aug. 4-7. Students will have a half-day orientation Aug. 8, and the first full day of classes will be Aug. 11.
- Contact David Monroe at 581-7236 or dmonroe@
gwcommonwealth.com.
