Rebecca Daniels

Editor’s note: The following is third in a series of articles previewing the upcoming school year at each public and private school in Athens and Limestone County.

School name: Piney Chapel Elementary School

Principal: Rebecca Daniels

Amount of time as principal: Since December 2015 (year and a half)

Grades: Pre-K-5

Total number of students: About 210

Total number of teachers: 20

Total number of support staff: 10

New programs: Kindergarten will begin using “Phonics First” this year. English language students will receive additional support in the classroom through a new English language series. Teachers also received more training in existing programs to take education to the next level, Daniels said.

What makes Piney Chapel special: “We’re a small school but we are mighty,” Daniels said. “Our faculty and staff love our students very much, and we have high expectations for every student. We do everything we can to help them reach their goals and meet those expectations.”

Primary objectives for 2017-2018: “When I came to Piney Chapel Elementary School, our test scores were among the lowest in the county, but last year, we were among the highest in the county,” Daniels said. “We are very excited about that and we celebrated that a lot, but we have a lot more work to do. … We are going to continue working with students and setting our goals.”

What the principal is looking forward to: “I’m looking forward to the first day when the students come back and we get to see them again,” she said. “The school has been very quiet this month without students. We’re anxious for them to come back so we can find out all that they’ve done over the summer.”