School bells will be ringing this week for students attending both the Grenada School District and Kirk Academy.
Grenada School District students in Pre-K grades will begin their classes on Wednesday, Aug. 6, with grades K-12 reporting for classes on Thursday, Aug. 7.
Last school year, the District had a total of 3,840 students enrolled, according to Grenada School District Superintendent Dr. David Daigneault, who has led the district since 2006.
Daigneault added that the staff, which numbers 324 certified employees, are excited about the start of the school year.
“We are very excited about the opening of school,” he said last week. “There are numerous new things we have in place this year to enhance student learning.”
Students will have new learning opportunities within the District with the first full year of an advanced manufacturing class at the Grenada Career and Technical Center.
“We actually started the program with a ‘soft opening’ last year,” Daigneault said. “There is a huge emphasis at the secondary level of students graduating and entering the work force. It is very aggressive at the high school because we want the students to be ready for college and the work force.”
There will also be an emphasis on health science with a class being offered at the Career and Technical Center. Students will learn about the human body with the help of a Anatomage Table. The Anatomage Table is the most advanced real-human-based 3D anatomy and medical education system. This state-of-the-art platform offers digitized human cadavers, superior medical learning tools, and realistic 3D anatomy experiences, transforming medical education and training. By incorporating the Anatomage Table, institutions can enhance learning outcomes, lower laboratory costs, and establish their technological leadership. Grenada is one of 41 school districts in the United States to have one of these tables as an instructional tool.
“There is a huge interest in the healthcare field in Grenada,” Daigneault concluded. “We try to stimulate this interest with these classes with some of the top technological equipment in the country.”
Grenada School District has been an A-rated District for the past three years.
Kirk Academy
Second-year Head of School Rob Shillito came in last year trying to get the school more in line with its mission statement of Quality Education in a Christian Environment. Strides were made, but as a student enrollment of more than 350 students get set to return on Thursday, Aug. 7, with a half day, Shillito and his staff hope that area continues to improve. The first full day will be on Friday, Aug. 8.
“We put that statement out on everything we have to tell people that is where we want to be,” he said. “That’s what I want on the minds of our teachers, parents and students. That is why we do what we do.”
Shillito also spent time during the summer on the curriculum and making necessary changes.
“We want to make sure we were teaching what we were supposed to teach when we want to teach it,” he said. “We wanted to set the tone early that we are all part of God’s story, and we want our students to understand that they are created to be part of that story.”
It was also a learning curve for the new head of school.
“I had to learn the culture of Kirk Academy — how they do things, why they do things, along with learning the people and the students,” Shillito concluded. “We have formulated a 3-5 year plan to feature all areas of the school.”
Some changes students will see this year will be renovations to the chemistry lab and high school computer room. Patrons also raised $40,000 in a month to complete a security fence around the campus.
It’s a new approach at Kirk Academy that should have parents, teachers and students excited about the 2025-26 year.
