For students and staff alike, a new school year brings new opportunities.
That is encouraging for Porters Chapel Academy Headmaster Pam Wilbanks.
“We’re just really excited for the school year to start,” Wilbanks said.
For two students, seeing some of the school’s new features and enjoying their high school days is what they look forward to.
“I’m excited that we’re getting a new gym floor. We really need it,” said Sophomore Cody Bryant.
The idea of heading back to class is not as enticing for Cody.
“School is school,” he said while shrugging.
Rachel Ross, a senior, has mixed feelings about the upcoming school year, describing it as her “first and last”. This will be her last “first” day at Porter’s Chapel Academy.
Wilbanks said she is eager for the beginning of the new school year — which begins Monday — in anticipation of several new courses being offered at the school.
Two new courses for ninth-graders, honors English and civics, will bring back classes that were taught in previous years at the private school.

Honors English would replace a student’s standard English class with the bonus of a weighted grade due to more rigorous coursework.
Civics, an elective, has been a popular choice with ninth-graders primarily, Wilbanks said.
Eight-graders will also be able to take a semester-long course about the history of Vicksburg and Mississippi.
One new addition that Wilbanks said she is eager to see is a leadership course. The course resembles similar schoolwide programs currently in two of the Vicksburg Warren School District’s schools. Two more in the county’s 8,500-student district will implement the program in their schools.
“This course will teach students to be more responsible and proactive in their lives,” Wilbanks said.
The course — based on Stephen Covey’s book, “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People.” — will be offered for eighth-graders.
She added that overall, she hopes the new classes improve the academics program.
Wilbanks said that the school would also have an extracurricular activity for those involved in Student Government called Team Help. She said that students will be sponsored by United Way, and they will be doing community service work.
The school will also continue to have their other extracurricular activities as well such as 4H club and Key Club.
The School currently has around 270 students, Wilbanks said, and she expects the number to rise after the first week of school.
Wilbanks said that the floorboards for the gym will be arriving Aug. 14, and the work on the floor will begin Aug. 18.
“The gym will be closed to all practices until the middle of September,” Wilbanks added that this is the biggest project the school has going on.
“We’re excited. It’s an indication that the school is growing,” Wilbanks said.