Washington Community Schools students are turning in their school books today as the district has its final school day for the 2021-2022 year.

Superintendent Willie Stone is proud of how the district navigated the pandemic, having no building closures due to quarantine, though at the beginning of the school year that was believed to be unlikely by him and other staff. Stone says though the remote learning option worked well for some high school students, learning in the classroom proved more beneficial for the younger grades, “Our PreK-8, we have most of our students back. Most of the students that went virtual have come back to the district and have been working well. Our district never slowed down academically, and slowed our standards down. We kept pushing for our kids and kept really trying to hit on our priority standards to make sure our kids understood and continue to move forward.”

Stone adds that the district’s successful school year is due largely in part to the work of their staff and school board in keeping students safe. The final bell rings at 1:10 p.m. for the Demons, with high school commencement taking place at 1:30 p.m. this Sunday.