Rockwall school district elementary students may get a new building – or a longer look at an old building – as the district opens its doors next week.

Photos by MIKE STONE/Special Contributor

Kindergarten teacher Amberly Brown prepares her room in Sharon Shannon Elementary for the start of school. Shannon is one of two new schools in the Rockwall district.

This year, the district fulfills its plan to provide all-day kindergarten at all campuses. Over the last five years, parents and district officials have weighed in on the pros and cons of all-day kindergarten – balancing a desire for the full school day with students' needs, parents' desires and space availability.

Two new schools that broke ground in February 2006, Sharon Shannon Elementary and Celia Hays Elementary, will welcome their first students.

Shannon Elementary was named for a retired teacher, Sharon Shannon. The new school is just south of the intersection at State Highway 276 at FM549. An award-winning teacher of 29 years, Ms. Shannon and her late husband, Stan, both taught at Rockwall High School.

Rockwall school trustee Leigh Plagens, also a former Rockwall High teacher, felt certain the community would embrace Ms. Shannon's name for the school. "We really think they'll be proud of her," she said at the time of the announcement.

Celia Hays' grandparents left a legacy to the district when they donated land on which the old Liberty Grove School was built. Ms. Hays graduated from high school in 1924 and began teaching in the county's one-room schoolhouse in 1926. She retired in 1974. The new school is near the intersection of FM552 and FM1141.

With the closing of Herman E. Utley Freshman Center, ninth-graders will return to Rockwall High School. At Rockwall-Heath High School, the 2007-08 school year includes the first-ever senior class.

Tom Maglisceau takes his post as principal of Rockwall-Heath. He had been principal at Pullen Elementary School since 2004. He is excited for the first graduating class and its opportunity to be leaders and role models.

"We're excited about our expectations for the first senior class coming through and for them to show what it means to be a Heath Hawk," Mr. Maglisceau said. "I believe in having high expectations for the school's leaders, but I also believe in giving them the opportunity to be just that."

Alicia M. Collier is a freelance writer in Plano.

collieramc@aol.com

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