Faculty celebrates milestone year for Collins High School despite delayed start

SHELBYVILLE, Ky. (WAVE) - After construction delays caused the start of the school year to be pushed back two weeks, students in the Shelby County Public Schools have returned to the classroom.

One school scheduled to open this year is still not complete and those students are starting the year elsewhere. Some of those students are going to be attending Martha Layne Collins High School, where it doesn’t take long to discover that the principal is a man of the people. You’ll find Dr. Joseph Ellison III among the students, because as he puts it they’re the reason he’s there.

"We need to be involved in their learning," said Ellison. "We need to make sure that they're involved actively in their learning to make sure that they're successful well beyond high school."

The first day of classes at Collins for 2019 also marked 10 years since the school first opened its doors. This year Collins has a few extra students, at least for the first month or so.

Hollie Raley is the school counselor at Marnel C. Moorman School, a K-8 school that hasn't quite completed construction yet, but she says her students are set up for success wherever they are in Shelby County.

"I'm very proud of what we've created and the the culture that we've created," said Raley, "and we haven't even gotten in the building yet."

Ellison believes there's a partnership to be had between the two schools since they're basically on the same campus.

"They're going to be our neighbors just south of us a little bit," said Ellison, "and so we're going to be sharing a lot of things throughout the years."

"The interesting thing about the delayed start to school is that it has increased the excitement level," said Superintendent James Neihof, who was greeting students in front of Collins High this morning, "parents, kids, teachers, just a lot of excitement about coming to school this week, so we're really excited to have school open."

The students at Moorman have also been spread out through Southside and Clear Creek elementary schools and will attend Moorman when construction is complete.

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