OCR Text |
Show 4 ;jriny feetf frequent in Bcasin ! I , The Uintah Basin is an area of many : Sources, but few are growing as apidly as the Basin's most valuable ""esource the children, j The increasing number of children is Apparent from the number of indergarten and first grade students iere are in the Uintah School District, l in kindergarten and 584 in the first " Vade. H According to Dr. Colleen Colton, prin-npal prin-npal at Discovery Elementary, in-i-eases in the kindergarten were such Jiis year that 30 students had to be -anferred to another school. Superintendent Philip Ellis attributes le increases in the younger grades to a ariety of factors including the fact that resent energy companies are attrae-ng attrae-ng young families and that Vernal is etting to the point where it can -enerate its own jobs and keep its outh. The population increases in the -"linger age residents (elementary Hhool age) have pretty much followed U'hat the forecaster predicted for 19S1 'hich shows an 11 percent increase for 3 percent in 1982 and 15 percent in p83. I At the first of the year the Uintah "chool District increased almost 10 per-vnt per-vnt with kindergarten increasing the Wt. State-wide the Utah Public School fall yirollment figures confirm that this vJear alone there were 11.655 more rudents in public schools than last W. The total student (K-12) fall hrollment for the 1981-82 school year is 54,540. Total in the Uintah School Jistrict is 5,855. As expected the largest increase ame at the kindergarten level where . ie figure increased by 2,918 students Thich represents a percentage increase f 9.23 over last fall's primary enroll-' enroll-' lent for the state. Grades 1-3 increased ! 25 percent, grades 4-6 increased 3.15 ercent; grades 7-9 increased 3.59 per-ent per-ent and grades 10-12 decreased 1.36 ercent. By 1987 forecasters predict a 50 per-snt per-snt increase in students in the Uintah chool District. Ellis said. Several of the problems with the rowth is the constant arrival and ansfer of students during the school iai-. For example, to date Discovery lementary has had 22 come into the :hool, and 29 transfer out since the rst of the year. Also the schools are aving to deal with students of other ultures as two students who speak only panish are enrolled at Discovery, Ellis . lid. The increase in the number of ounger people in the area is also hanging community government's at-tude at-tude toward parks and facilities for ae youth. In a survey taken last sum-ler sum-ler activities for the youth were rated . oor by community residents. All things considered, until the rowth in the Basin levels off, residents re going to hear more of the 'pitter atter of tiny feet.' ... j THIS KINDERGARTNER in Mrs. Sharon Gibson's afternoon session ses-sion at Discovery Elementary joins his classmates tor a break and a snack after a story was read by the teacher. ) ' " ' " " J . I I " , -! - ; " i ' y . y i M V ''"'''''' --'- I j -J v - " i ' SHELLE CONCENTRATES on her big A's and her little a's in Miss Linda Leonard's kindergarten class at Central Elementary. The U --- v. v. - :- - ' ' " I - f ' J- ""'" - f t i ' " ""a ! ; ' ; '.-- f'oi Jar' 'J ' 'v. ' " "-v J ...... ' .'. J . . - . ' ft. v - - I . . V . .. " j CHILDREN GATHER around Mrs. Virginia Felter as storytime begins in her first grade class at Central Elementary. students were learning the proper way to hold a pencil as well as the first letter of the alphabet. t '- . ; y A LOFT tilled with big pillows and books can be a nice place to read when another assignment is completed. First graders had completed chalk snow pictures in Mrs. Francis Emery's class at Discovery Elementary. |