BUFFALO, N.Y. — While many students have already started the new school year, Buffalo Public Schools head back Thursday.
Teachers and staff were busy in the classrooms on Wednesday putting the finishing touches on everything before the students get there Thursday morning.
2 On Your Side visited the Frank A. Sedita Academy in Buffalo where Pre-K through 8th grade students will start the new school year Thursday.
"We're upbeat. We're very excited about this new school year," Buffalo Public Schools Superintendent Tonja Williams Knight said.
Last week, 2 On Your Side talked with Williams Knight about making sure kids get to class, and she said when there are attendance issues, it usually involves the youngest and oldest students in the district.
"When the children have missed two days of school, we're out and we're looking for them. We want them to be in school every day. It's important. That's the only way that we continue to make the gains that we have been making," Williams Knight said.
She said that attendance teachers now work on Saturdays so they can work with families to find out what the root of the attendance issues are.
"We chose this year to really look at, absenteeism as really not just something that the attendance department has to work on. It's about all of us collectively working, making sure that children feel welcomed, someone knows their names, we're looking for them when they are not in schools," Williams Knight said.
While a lot of districts in Western New York went back to school earlier this week, the Niagara Falls City School District also starts Thursday with grades K through 9.
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