Northeast Middle School cheerleaders Lily Ward, from left, Genesis Smith, and Makayla Granger assist teachers on Wednesday with passing out student schedules at Northeast Park softball complex. Lauderdale County schools return to class on Thursday.

Lauderdale County School District students will bid summer farewell Thursday as the 2023-2024 school year gets underway.

All county school district students whose last name starts with the letters A-K will start the new school year on Thursday. Students whose last name begins with the letters L-Z will begin classes on Friday. All students, regardless of their last name, will report to class on Monday.

Hailey Foreman, an eighth grader and cheerleader at Northeast Middle School, said she was excited to begin a new school year.

“I am looking forward to my last year of middle school,” she said. “Last year’s group of eighth graders, who are now ninth graders at the high school, made it look like so much fun and were a really good group. It was one of the best years at the middle school.”

Foreman and other middle school cheerleaders were helping to pass out schedules to Northeast middle school parents on Wednesday afternoon at the Northeast Park softball complex. Due to the middle school’s parking lot being repaved, school administrators had to postpone open house, planned for Tuesday, until 3-5 p.m. on Sunday.

Instead, teachers and administrators set up at the softball complex to pass out schedules in the late afternoon heat just so students will know which classes to go to on their first day.

“The teachers adjusted well to the shift in plans and parents have responded wonderfully,” said new middle school Principal Shacora Moore. She is joined in administration by two new assistant principals at the school, Elliott Brewer and Deona Fox.

Fifth-grade language arts teacher Melony Dees said the new year has gotten off to a good start so far despite the parking lot issue. She and her fellow fifth-grade teachers are looking forward to a new group of students coming from the elementary school.

“We get a brand new set of kids,” she said. “They are coming in from the elementary, so we, as a team, look after them and make sure they learn the ropes before they move on to sixth grade.”

Lauderdale County’s teachers reported to work on Tuesday for the district’s annual Back-to-School Convocation. More than 400 veteran and first-time educators packed into the MSU Riley Center in downtown Meridian where they were given a charge for the new year to take teaching to the next level.

Moore said administrators, teachers and staff are excited to begin a new school year and the possibilities it brings for Northeast, the last of the county’s middle schools to switch to a block schedule for classes.

“We are excited about meeting the students, moving the school forward and supporting the community,” she said.