Published Wednesday, August 06, 2008 in Local
20,898 students on 1st day of new school year
The Times-Herald
Registration Clerk Pat Burnham started mid-morning Wednesday trying to coordinate and confirm lunch plans for the staff at Coweta County School System's central registration office in between greeting parents streaming in to register children for school.
It's the first year that area schools have been relieved of new student registration. New students now register at the central registration office on Werz Industrial Drive, and Burnham's face is the first one parents often see when they come in through the doors.
She's also the one parents often vent their frustrations upon as they go through the process that involves lots of forms, signatures, copies and verification.
"I have to put up with everybody's mood," she said, laughing.
But she soon diffuses a lot of the tension and annoyances with a smile, humor and charm that's complemented by a Colombian accent.
The former Arnall Spanish teacher started at the Coweta Schools' registration office when it opened in January. Before then, student registration was handled at each individual school.
Over the past few weeks, staffers have been working nonstop to register close to 3,000 students. More than a third of them were registered in the past seven days.
One parent was so appreciative of central registration's office assistance, he came back with a chocolate cake to show his gratitude, Burnham said.
As of Wednesday, Coweta schools recorded 20,898 students in attendance compared to 21,230 at the same time last year. Enrollment numbers are expected to increase as the days go by.
In the past seven days, more than 900 new students passed through the central registration office.
Dean Jackson, Coweta Schools' public information officer, said one of the reasons for area schools' smooth start on Wednesday was because of the central office's efficient handling of the lengthy registration process for new students. Since front office personnel at area schools were relieved of that responsibility, they could focus more on other first-day-of-school needs.
"That's part of the reason why it went wonderful in schools," he said.
"Because they didn't have to stress so much in school because we stressed in here," Burnham added, still jockeying for someone to fetch lunch.