Cherokee school enrollment grows by more than 500

The Cherokee County Schools start the new academic year with 256 new teachers, 402 bus drivers on more than 1,500 routes and an enrollment that has grown in excess of 500 students.

These are among the highlights of the “First Day Facts” released by the school district for the first day of classes Aug. 1 for the 2017-18 academic year. Among the facts: Cherokee predicts a 20th day enrollment of 42,299 at its 24 elementary schools, 530 more than last year, at its seven middle schools, six high schools and four centers/programs facilities.

New this year are a GPS app that lets parents track their children’s buses (to begin late this fall or early winter); a New English Language Arts adoption that provides new resources for K-5 classrooms; a new online payment vendor for school lunch accounts and 10 new school principals.