The New Gym!

In case you haven't heard... WE ARE IN THE GYM!!! Due to various scheduling, today was the first FULL day of PE in the new gym! I must say that I loved it and I know the kids did too!

Since I updated last week I have everything moved into the gym and semi-settled!

I along with my fabulous husband and amazing Mom and Dad worked all weekend to get everything ready!

 Storage room organized! 

Coach Green and her mom! The time is 12:15 AM :)

Coach Green with Mr. Coach Green :)

Mr. Coach Green and Coach Green's dad mopped the floor to get it ready for PE Monday!

You see these when you walk up to the gym door!

Gym view

Ready for PE!

Coach Green in her new office!

Coach Green and Marvin (the head construction guy!) He is getting ready to leave which means that the Iola construction project is basically finished! That of course is with the exception of a few odd and end things!

Almost Ready!

I am very happy to report that the gym is ALMOST ready for daily PE! This morning the baseboards were completed and after lunch I had the go-ahead to begin moving things in! 

Some 4th graders helped me begin moving my equipment from the music room into the new gym. They were very excited to help and were a huge help! I stayed after school to get the rest moved! We will not have PE in the gym until Monday because the lines you see below were painted by hand and need as long as possible to "cure" and I know once 800 little feet hit the floor it has to be finished! 

Today I was glad I packed a lot of things in crates! 

The gym is absolutely beautiful and I am excited to get the equipment, or "toys" as the kindergarten students have been calling all of my stuff, organized and ready for a truly normal PE routine!

First Day "Home"

Today was our first day back "home" at Iola! We had a GREAT day by all accounts according to Coach Green :)

It felt like the first day of school all over again but it was a great feeling! I saw teachers giving tours of the "new Iola" and each had a huge smile on their face! I loved hearing children talk about how Iola "used" to look and I too loved seeing the excitement on kids' faces that are "new" to Iola even though they've only been with us for a week! This morning was interesting as everyone was trying to find their room! The biggest change... Kindergarten and 3rd grades are downstairs when in the "old" Iola K,1st, and 2nd grades were downstairs with 3rd and 4th upstairs! The way I found myself directing children who attended Iola last year was by telling them, "You're classroom is where Ms.____'s was last year!" They immediately went "ah ha!"

This year we welcome some children to our school who are "new" to us due to the re-zoning of some of our areas, but I have loved getting to know all of these children! If you are a parent who is new to Iola and I haven't had the opportunity to meet you then I look forward to our meeting! I am trying my best to learn all names of our 400+ students! This is quite a task, but I am trying!

You may or may not know, but the new gym is in the final stages of completion. All that is left is the gym floor and they are working hard to get this completed. They tell me I may be able to move my things in late next week! Fingers crossed :) Until then.... we are making do out of the music room and of course outside!

I'm looking forward to a great first week back at Iola and an awesome 2011-2012 school year!

We are IN!

Hello Iola friends! What an EXCITING start we have had to the 2011-2012 school year!

As you all know we started school at Williams Intermediate School and I just have to say that those are some of the nicest people you will find in the area! They welcomed us with open arms and would have done just about anything to help us out! Even the students were willing and trying to help us out, and they were often a great help to get our "babies" around such a big school! 

For me, it was nice to get to see some of my former students and interact with them a bit during PE. Speaking of PE, I had a blast with Coach Doss and Ms. Davis at Williams! They are quite awesome and not only did they help me with PE for my Iola students they also had the "Iola Office" housed in the gym! Needless to say it was quite a circus this week! Especially yesterday when it was pouring rain and we had 5th and 6th grade PE, Iola PE, and the Iola Office all running at the same time! Who said we couldn't make this work?! 

Yes, it has been wild, but all in all it has been a great week! I finally felt like we had everything figured out today about the time that we got the call that we were "going home!" We have had a wonderful week and I started out calling it "Camp Iola" but now I'm calling it "Camp WIOLA" because the Williams faculty, staff, and students made our time there wonderful! While camp is always great, it is always nice to get back home! Kind of like going on a vacation... the first few days or week is awesome, but then you are ready to get back home! As the week has progressed I've told the kids, "Just wait, we're going home!" I think "home" has a new meaning for the Iola crew!

Speaking of "home"... We were able to get in late Thursday afternoon for a tour and I of course took some pictures! The teachers were able to get in around 4:30 today once the final inspection was completed and when I left at almost 9:00 several were still there working. Most plan to work tomorrow (Saturday) to get their rooms ready for Monday. Though we are "home" we are far from settled! Bear with us as we begin to unpack our boxes and try to settle in!

These pictures were taken Thursday, August 11! 

Mrs. Mitchell is Ms. Lisa's first patient in the nurse's station :)

4th Grade teachers are loving their brand new rooms!

This excites me! 8 water fountains just outside the gym!

The gym floor started going down on 8-11-11. We will not be able to get on the floor or go in the gym for the next week or two.

The first "conference" was held in the conference room!

Ms. Velma, Mrs. King, and Mrs. Cohron

Inside the library. In the distance you can see into the front lobby!

This brought a tear to my eye :) The original hardwood floors from the old gym were preserved for the new media center! Absolutely stunning!

A view of the new media center! Can you believe this was once a gym?!

Thanks for reading and keeping up with the progression of Iola Roberts! The new school is awesome and we are beyond excited to be starting there on Monday, August 15!

Finding Williams!

Hello everyone! I sure hope that parents aren't worried about finding Williams. Just in case you are, here is some additional information that will hopefully ease your mind!

If you are worried about finding Williams Intermediate School know that it is very easy to find!

If you are familiar with the brand new Publix then you can find Williams! Simply turn on the road between the bank and Publix, go to the end and bare right. If you are familiar with that area of town you know there are several ways to get to the school!

If you have a chance to ride by there this weekend to have a better idea of where it is that would be great!

Please understand that all of the Williams students will be unloading Monday morning as well as all of our Iola students! This is why we are allowing our car riders to be dropped off at 8:30! If we can work together to ease the traffic that will be great!

Keep in mind also that every bus for the school system must unload at Williams as well!

We look forward to seeing all of you Monday as we start this adventure together!  We are ALL IN!

Starting School!

Hello Iola Friends! This is the update you have been waiting for! 

*We WILL start to school on Monday, August 8! Iola will have school at Williams Intermediate School.

*Car riders may be dropped off at Williams beginning at 8:30 AM and may be picked up at 2:20 PM.

*Buses will run as normal for pick up and drop off. 

* The only school supplies needed by the children are: paper, a pencil, and crayons. The remaining school supplies can be sent to school once we are back on the campus of Iola!

Kindergarten Students 

*Only boys will attend Monday

*Only girls will attend Tuesday

*ALL kindergarten students will attend as of Wednesday

*Kindergarten students will need the above school supplies (paper,pencil,crayons) AND their nap mat.

New Pictures as of Today!

I know everyone is super excited about seeing the new Iola so I was able to get a few pictures today to share with you :)

Downstairs teacher workroom

4th grade classroom

Back view of school

Bathroom in new building

Counseling area

Furniture has arrived!

Downstairs hallway

Downstairs bathroom

Downstairs teacher restroom

Working on bulletin boards!

The beautiful hardwood floors in the new media center. They look fabulous! 

Yep.. Almost there!

More furniture!

:)

K room

Another view of a K room

Another view of a K room 

Front lobby stairs

Media center

Smart boards in a new 4th grade room!

4th Grade

Ms. Velma's Office

Mr. Bliss' office!

A small kid's chair!

The swings were painted today too!

Yep it was 100 degrees!

The track has been re-finished!

Yep... getting ready to run laps! 

No kids this does not mean you can wear flip flops :) 

Coach did not realize the track had been finished!

I have full faith and confidence that we will pass the final inspection and be ready for school August 8th!

See you all Friday for meet the teacher :)