AGAWAM — The summer break is over for students and staff in Agawam. When they return to school for the 2024-25 school year there will a number of changes. Some of those changes will also affect parents and caregivers.
The first day of school in Agawam for students in grades 1-12 is Sept. 5. Kindergartners and preschoolers will start the following, week, on Sept. 10. School Superintendent Sheila Hoffman said 3,519 students have been enrolled to date in Agawam’s schools. She said that there have been no changes to the 26 administrative positions. There will be 379 teachers and 146 paraprofessionals working in classrooms this year.
Following approval by voters in June, work, has begun to construct a replacement for the current high school on Cooper Street. While most day-to-day classroom operations at the school won’t be affected, the junior varsity soccer field will be unavailable for the fall. Hoffman said that is because test borings for the new building are being done on the field and the size of the boring holes will make the field unplayable.
Hoffman added that all staff at the high school were updated via email this summer each time a decision was made on the new school’s design. Since the beginning of August, all user groups at AHS have been meeting with the architects for design development.
“Those meetings will conclude in September, when regular updates will occur via the school website and regular faculty meetings,” said Hoffman.
Starting this school year, parents and caregivers will be able to receive up-to-the-minute information about the status of student bus riders. Hoffman said the district’s transportation provider, Lower Pioneer Valley Educational Collaborative, will make the ride-tracking app application available on all buses used in Agawam.
“The My Ride K-12 mobile app integrates with the GPS technology used by our bus company’s fleet to provide accurate arrival times directly through the application,” she said. “This service will go live for students in our district beginning in September.”
