DUANE SHERRILLEditor

Tullahoma students will head back to school Wednesday for the 2024-25 school year with the last day of school scheduled for May 23, 2025 providing there is no major weather cancelations during the term.

Teachers have already been back at school this week as they began in-service on July 24 to prepare for students who will be at school until 1 p.m. their first day, July 31. Full days will commence on Thursday, Aug. 1.

Prior to the first full day of school, each TCS campus will hold an orientation for students and parents. Bel-Aire Elementary School will hold its orientation on Monday, July 29, where kindergarten, second grade and fourth grade orientation will take place in cafeteria from 5-6 p.m., 6:15-6:45 p.m. and 7-7:30 p.m. respectively, while first grade, third grade and fifth grade orientation will take place in the gymnasium from 5:30-6 p.m., 6:15-6:45 p.m. and 7-7:30 p.m. respectively.

East Lincoln Elementary School’s first through fifth grade’s orientation will take place Monday, July 29, from 5-6:30 p.m. Kindergarten and VPK orientation will take place Tuesday, July 30, from 5-6 p.m., where VPK’s orientation will be from 5-5:30 p.m. in the gymnasium, and the kindergarten orientation will be held from 5:30-6 p.m. in the gymnasium.

Jack T. Farrar Elementary School’s orientation schedule will have two open house sessions on Monday, July 29, where the first session will be held at 5 p.m. and the second session will be held at 5:45 p.m. Parents can attend either session.

Robert E. Lee Elementary School will hold two days of student orientations. The first day will take place on Monday, July 29, where K-2 orientation will be held from 6-6:30 p.m. and 3-5 orientation will be held from 6:45-7:15 p.m. The second day will take place the following day on Tuesday, July 30, where the new student orientation will be held at 1 p.m.

East Middle School’s orientation will take place on Monday, July 29, and will have four sessions. The first session will be the new student orientation from 9 to 11 a.m., the sixth grade orientation will be at 5 p.m., seventh grade orientation will be at 5:30 p.m. and eight grade orientation will be at 6 p.m.

West Middle School’s orientation schedule consists of the sixth and seventh grade orientations take place Monday, July 29, at 6 and 7 p.m., respectively. The eighth grade orientation will be Tuesday, July 30, at 6 p.m.

Tullahoma High School will have its new student orientation on Monday, July 29, from 9-10 a.m. and the freshman orientation will be Tuesday, July 30, from 9-11:30 a.m.

Tullahoma Virtual Academy will have its full-time TVA student orientation on Wednesday, July 31, TVA’s campus. The high school orientation will be from 8:30-9:30 a.m. and the middle school orientation will be from 10-11 a.m. The New to TVA parent orientation will be held Thursday, Aug. 1, at 5 p.m. inside the café at TVA. Both flex and full-time students will meet with their teachers in a live Google meet on either July 31 or Aug. 1. Teachers will send an email with the time and link for the meeting.

As for any major changes this year, TCS recent announced that students with the school system will get free breakfast and lunch this year.

Students will get their first day off from school on Sept. 24 for Labor Day; however, their first taste of week-long freedom will come Oct. 4-11 when they are released for Fall Break. Their next week off will come Nov. 25-29 for Thanksgiving break. The longest break comes Dec. 20 through Jan. 3, 2025 when students are out for Christmas break. Dec. 19 will be an early 1 p.m. dismissal. Students will not actually return from Christmas break until Jan. 7 as Jan. 6 is an administrative date.

There are several early release days on the schedule this term with middle school and high school releases at 1 p.m. on Aug. 28, Sept. 25, Nov. 20, Dec. 18, Jan. 29, Feb. 26, April 30 and May 21.

Spring break comes March 14-21, 2025. Teacher-parent conferences include elementary schools Sept. 223-26 and Feb. 3-6; middle schools, Sept. 10 and 12 and Feb. 11 and 13; and high school Sept. 9-12 and Feb. 10-13.

The schedule, which was set into stone back in 2022, is subject to change should weather conditions impact safe arrival at school. Last year, a few of the latter 1 p.m. release days were made full days after a snow storm left the mid-state buried under several inches of snow.

Kyle Murphy contributed to this story.