Roundabouts Not A Problem: Bemidji Area Schools Deems First Day A Success

The first day of school for the Bemidji area came with a lot of changes. There’s a new school, some new roundabouts, and even new staff.

“Today has been extremely smooth. The teachers have and the students have gone off as though there hasn’t been so much of a transition,” says Jason Stanoch, the new Bemidji High School principal.

Stanoch started this year as principal of the school and says he’ll be working on continuing the success BHS has seen in recent years.

Stanoch says, “There’s three new administrators. All three of us have different skill sets and so learning to work with them. The teachers will have some input. They have their own perspectives on what needs to be changed or improved.”

More than 70 school buses hit the rounds this morning, and even with the new added roundabouts and the new Gene Dillon Elementary School, the Bemidji Area Schools traffic coordinator Greg Liedl says everything ran smoothly traffic-wise.

“With the flow of traffic, the roundabouts, the traffic keeps constantly moving. So what we were experiencing coming out of Gene Dillon Elementary this morning that our buses experienced a tough time making left turns, so they just took a right, went down to the roundabout, got their turn in traffic and made a loop around and went the other way. So we used the roundabouts to our advantage for the traffic flow,” says Leidl.

It seems like we can chalk the first day of school up as a success. Looking forward, staff says they’re hopeful the rest of the 2018-2019 school year will be just as good.

“I think the message that I sent the night before to 9^th graders and I continue to send to even my own children is the more involved you are, the more likely you are to have success and enjoy your high school career. So, the more involved you are, the more fun you’re going to have,” says Stanoch.

The Bemidji Area School District is always in need of bus drivers. You can find more information here.