It was back to school for students in the Maplewood Richmond Heights School District on Tuesday and in keeping with tradition, school and district employees distributed apples to each student.
“On the first day of school, MRH has the tradition of welcoming each student back to school with the ‘MRH Apple Brigade,'” said Brian Adkisson, Director of Communications for the school district. “Administrators and staff from the Central Office, led by Superintendent Karen I. Hall, go to each classroom in the district and welcome the students and teachers with an apple. This is a fun tradition that both students and staff look forward to each year.”
It wasn’t just free fruit that made the first day in MRH schools a success. Census numbers indicated high attendance. The Early Childhood Center saw 98.72 percent attendance while the elementary school reported 97.72 percent and the high school recorded 95.84 percent. The middle school boasted the highest attendance rate as 99.6 percent of students reported for class. Overall district attendance in 2013 was 95.1 percent which beat the state average of 94.6 percent.
“It was a great day,” said Adkisson.
Photos of the apple brigade from each building can be found at http://mrhschools.net/news/