Enfield public schools are dismissing students early on their first day of school, as a way to beat the excessive heat inside the classrooms. Superintendent Chris Drezek says, while students learn for a few hours, the staff is committed to keeping them cool in any way possible.
“We’re going to make sure that kids are going to be as comfortable as they can be in the excessive heat while we have them,” says Drezek. “But we’re going to keep continuing to remind people to stay hydrated, make sure that we keep them in the coolest parts of the buildings if we can.”
All outdoor activities Wednesday have either been moved inside or have been cancelled.
Superintendent Drezek says an early dismissal on the first day of school is one of several firsts for the district this year. Students are back in class before Labor Day, when the academic year typically follows the holiday. Superintendent Drezek says the abnormal number of snow days last year prompted school leadership to open the classroom doors early to make up for lost time.
“The board and our teachers union, we all came together and decided to make the change and make some adjustments to the activities that we typically do, and start kids this week, says Drezek.”
This is the second year students from Enfield High School and Fermi High School are under the same roof. For years, the two schools used to be athletic rivals. To celebrate bother school’s accomplishments and traditions, setting differences aside, the championship banners from both schools are now lined in the Grand Hall together.
Superintendent Drezek says the former rivals have quickly become friends. “We joked that it was going to be like the Jets and the Sharks when we showed up on the first day in a turf war, but the kids, like they always do, proved everybody wrong.”
