BY KARISSA MILLER

Before the new school year began on Monday educators at Cloverleaf Elementary, an International Baccalaureate (IB) World School, had fun bonding and prepping their classrooms.

“We’re very excited to be back in the building. We have very little turnover from last year. Our school is very fortunate to welcome back the same staff minus a few people who have retired or moved on,” said Principal Andy Mehall, who is entering his fifth year as Cloverleaf principal.

“At the opening meeting, you bring the energy level and bring a level of excitement to each year. This year, we did a (music) play list. We asked, ‘What song impacts you?’ We collected those songs from our employees for us to see,” Mehall said.

It really excited everyone, he explained, to see what songs impact everyone. They carried that through the entire meeting and got everyone pumped up about some of the plans for this year.

Instructional Facilitator Allison Whitaker said she’s been happy with the work of teachers and staff with the implementation of the IB curriculum, which includes new opportunities with students.

Students will do research on different countries and landmarks, which are featured in the school’s hall of flags and atrium.

“Students will then file the information that they researched, which will then be linked via QR code. It will be displayed out in the school, so that anyone who wants to know more about a country can scan their phone or an Ipad to learn more about any place in the world,” she said.

Whitaker said she knows COVID-19 is still an issue in the country.

“Things this year will feel somewhat back to normal after two years with the pandemic. I don’t want us to get back to normal, but back to our best practices so that we can make an even better normal,” Whitaker said.