This year elementary students, grades kindergarten-sixth, do not start school until Thursday, Sept. 9. The high school students, grades 7-12, start on Tuesday, Sept. 7.

All K-6 parent-teacher conferences are Sept. 7-8.

Construction is still underway for the Pine River-Backus district office. Once completed there will be a new, secure entrance into the elementary.

Elementary students will have their class pictures taken those days and will be screened for vision and hearing.

Parents can also use that time to check their child's bus schedule and review bus safety and set up a lunch account for the school year for their student.

Also new this year, fifth- and sixth-grade students will have a different teacher for math, science, social studies and language arts - following a "departmentalized" model. Their first hour teacher will be their homeroom teacher.

The move should help students' transition to the high school class format more easily while allowing teachers to focus on teaching a specific area of expertise, according to Elementary Principal Jackie Bruns.

Third- through sixth-grade students will have recess before lunch this year, instead of after.

The benefits of recess before lunch are that children eat more at lunchtime and feel less rushed to get out on the playground.

The district also received a $31,000 fruit and vegetable grant to serve healthy snacks to elementary students during the school day. For more information, see the article on page 3.

There are new teachers at both the PR-B elementary and high schools. New teacher questionnaires and photos are on page 10 of this newspaper.

The PR-B High School is offering two new courses this fall.

Pine River Police Chief Josh Ebert will teach a high school criminal justice class. The semester-long class is offered as an elective.

The high school is also premiering a Computer Integrated Manufacturing class.

The class fits well with PR-B's Project Lead the Way engineering program.

Pine River-Backus High School is a certified high school of engineering through Project Lead the Way.

New this year at the high school: students in grades 7-12 may use electronic devices - cell phones, personal music players, handheld games, etc. - during their lunch period.

Those same electronic devices are not allowed in the classroom unless they are used specific to a lesson or with specific curriculum provided by the teacher.

The new district office construction is underway and should be completed before school starts.

The project includes a new district office with four offices, reception area, conference room, bathroom, copy center and room for custodial. A secured entrance and handicapped accessible bathroom will be constructed for the elementary.

During a special meeting, Monday night, the PR-B School Board approved additional resignations and hires. The following board action was approved: