BUFFALO, N.Y. — The Charter School for Applied Technologies opened their doors to students for the 2023-24 school year Thursday.
A few school districts like CSAT, Nichols School, and Lackawanna City Schools will start their school years a little earlier than most nearby districts, because they feel the early start is an advantage.
Most schools in the greater Buffalo area wait until after Labor Day, which is the first Monday of every September, to start the school year.
“It’s been a great week so far,” said Nichols School Assistant Head of School Student Life, Gregory Plumb. “We feel if you jump right into classes, you don’t necessarily get that ability to meet teachers and make friends.”
Thursday was Day three of the school year at Nichols, but that didn’t necessarily mean loads of book work quite yet.
Instead, they use this short week prior Labor Day to ease into a new school year, with community and retreat activities, so their students can build relationships with one another before the academic year starts.
“We dedicate a lot of time and energy to making those intentional connections that first week,” Plumb said.
CSAT also started their school year Thursday with a very similar mindset.
“More time is spent building relationships and establishing foundational operations. Then, they hit the ground running with learning early next week,” said CSAT Middle School Principal Patrick Heyden. “It’s gratifying for me as a principal to see happy kids.”
Despite many other kids still enjoying the last few days of summer, the parents and students I spoke to don’t seem to mind the early start in August.
“I like starting before [my friends at other schools],” said 7th grade student at CSAT Middle School Caydance McCre. “I don’t like to go into school with a full week ahead of me. It’s hard to even get up now when I have two weeks of school.
“We do work with other people around the country and some of them started 2 weeks ago,” said parent of three Nichols School students Phil Nobel. “Here in Buffalo, we’re lucky to come early and do some community building before class gets started.”
After this shortened orientation week is over Friday, the schools are ready to start traditional classes Tuesday, the same day several other schools are welcoming back their students for the first time.
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