It’s almost time! We’re just a couple of weeks away from the start of the 2017-18 school year.

Our administrative team spent time last week at the annual Administrative Institute planning how they are going to #transformstjohn this school year. Other staff members will return to work for professional development days beginning Aug. 7.

Our students will be back days later. First- through eighth-graders in the St. John the Baptist Parish Public School District will return to school Aug. 10. Students in kindergarten and the universal pre-kindergarten, LA4 and Model Early programs will return Aug. 16. The first day of school for Head Start students is Aug. 23.

At the end of last school year we revamped our website and it contains a wealth of information for parents.

Links to important back-to-school information, such as school supply lists, the school calendar and bell schedules, can be found in the Back-to-School section of the homepage at www.stjohn.k12.la.us.

This section will be constantly updated as more information is finalized and becomes available.

For those still needing to register their child for school, you can also find information about what documents are needed and can download a registration packet to fill out in advance.

We’ve changed our registration process a bit this summer.

Parents needing to register their child no longer need to go to the central office but instead can go directly to their child’s school.

If you’re not sure in which school attendance zone your household falls you can consult the School Boundaries Map on the website or can contact the Child Welfare and Attendance Office at 985-479-8140.

For parents of little ones, the St. John Early Childhood Community Network will host an Enrollment Day this Saturday, July 29. The event will take place in the media center directly behind the St. John the Baptist Parish School Board Office at 118 W. 10th St. in Reserve.

The network is a coalition of childcare centers and public schools, headed by the St. John the Baptist Parish Public School District, ensuring children at participating network centers are receiving a high quality preschool education so they enter kindergarten ready to learn.

These programs are open to children infant through pre-kindergarten regardless of income, although financial assistance may be available for those who qualify.

If you are unable to make it to the enrollment day, you can download an application online or pick one up at the St. John Child Development Center at 117 Stebbins St. in Garyville.

The beginning of the new school year is one of excitement not just for our students but for our administrators, teachers and other staff who have spent all summer getting ready to welcome them back.

This year, our focus is to #transformstjohn into a school district where students and student achievement is the number one focus of everyone in our school system, an effort that is being sparked by our new TAP teacher improvement model.

Be on the lookout for even more good things to come in the St. John the Baptist Parish Public School District this year!

Jennifer Boquet is the communications specialist for St. John the Baptist Parish Public Schools. Email her at jboquet@stjohn.k12.la.us.