The desks lining Dee Schmidt's first grade classroom at St. Anne Catholic School in Beaumont are all ready for their new students.
"I am trying to get my room nice and neat," she says followed by a laugh.
Tomorrow marks the first day of school for the Catholic Diocese of Beaumont, a week earlier than usual. Students and their parents will come in to get their schedules and meet their teachers, and St. Anne's principal, Amy Delgado, says they are more than ready.
"We truly have been here on our campus, and that has given us the time to really come together as a staff and prepare for our children and our parents," she says.
Delgado says the school has also received a handful of students who transferred from the recently closed school Our Mother of Mercy.
She claims "We are so happy to welcome the students from Our Mother of Mercy and we've incorporated them and they're part of the St. Anne family."
This term marks St. Anne's 75th year in Beaumont, and to celebrate they're selling these 75th anniversary commemorative shirts to students, parents, or whoever else wants to get their hands on them. Across town St. Anthony Catholic School will start tomorrow with an 8:30am mass followed by a meet and greet with student and teachers.
Meanwhile, Schmidt can't wait for her students to learn on her new interactive workboard. Monday will mark the first day of actual teaching, but that doesn't stop Schmidt from getting excited.
"St. Anne is a wonderful school, I feel blessed to teach here...I was going to retire nine years ago and then I found St. Anne and I thought I could teach here!"
