Mike Wolanin | The Republic Rachel Hunt leads a group of school goers across 7th Street on the first day of school for the Bartholomew Consolidated School Corporation in Columbus, Ind., Wednesday, Aug. 6, 2025.
A fleet of yellow buses pulled up along Seventh Street on Wednesday, some arriving with celebratory honks. It’s the first day of school for Bartholomew Consolidated School Corp., and with it a new chapter for students, parents and staff.
Hugs were aplenty when students caught glimpses of friends they hadn’t seen over the summer. Jonathan Schneider, a teacher’s assistant, greeted several students with high-fives.
Students entered the front doors of Central Middle School as just above them hard-helmet-wearing workers stood atop ladders, tools in hand, tinkering away with electrical wiring— a familiar site across many BCSC schools during Envision 2030, the district’s facilities renovation project.
Kaylind Notz, a health teacher at Central, was directing students where to go as they approached the entrance. All in all, things went smoothly Wednesday morning, she said.
One thing most everyone seemed to agree on was that it was indeed hard to get up this morning, but the excitement of the day overcame that as the school day drew closer.
Jacob Speer, an eighth grader, was telling a friend how he needed a Monster energy drink after not sleeping much the night before.
He said he spent some time at a Kansas resort over the summer and was eager to reunite with his former sixth grade math teacher Nathan Bean who moved to Central from Southside last year.
“He’s teaching pre-algebra this year, so I’m excited about that,” Speer said.
At Columbus North and Columbus East, students lined up outside, lanyards and IDs in tow, checking in with the district’s new school security officers (SSOs).
Keisha Mings, mom to Delanie Mings, now a seventh-grader, proudly filmed her daughter walking into Central, asking her: “Do you have it from here?”
Central is the first school Delanie has attended outside of Mt. Healthy. She initially was going to attend Northside, but was glad to end up at Central, where a lot of her friends were also going to attend.
“She’s anxious, but they’ve been excited. They were ready for school to start,” Mings said. “Her best friend stayed with us so they could go together…It’s crazy, it makes me feel very old, actually.”
Mings stood alongside her other daughter Delila. The pair were next going to drop the now fifth-grader off at Clifty Creek.
Derek Rodgers, a teacher’s assistant who hopes to become a BCSC social studies teacher, was back outside Central again this year on crossing guard duty, enthusiastic as always. Rodgers was quick to dole out compliments and ask students how their summers went, concluding with an earnest: “Have a GREAT day,” at least a dozen times in a half-hour period.
Just a few skips away at CSA Lincoln, some of the district’s younger students began entering school shortly after traffic became sparse outside Central. Complimentary coffee was available for parents and staff outside the school, and it was duly taken advantage of.
One parent— moseying from Lincoln holding a toddler’s hand, looked down, tying a bow on the morning with a “And now, we can go back to bed.” But not for students and staff. The new year has arrived.
