School bells ring Monday

Students, your days of sleeping in are almost over. The 2014-15 school year starts Monday morning, Aug. 18, for Orange County Public Schools.

For high-schoolers in West Orange County, classes start early: 7:15 a.m. at West Orange High, 7:18 at Olympia and 7:20 at Ocoee and Dr. Phillips. Middle school students at all seven local middle schools begin their lessons at 9:30 a.m. And elementary students start their school day at 8:30 or 8:45 a.m. (the exceptions are Dillard Street at 8 a.m. and Bay Meadows and Thornebrooke at 9).

Three schools will start the year with new principals: Cheron Anderson at Chain of Lakes Middle, Patrice Knowles at Gotha Middle and Agathe Alvarez at Tildenville Elementary. Kevin Balabas was hired as assistant principal at Spring Lake Elementary.

The Orange County Public Schools calendar for the 2014-15 school year is printed on page 5B. It includes 10 bad-weather days, which are utilized when school has been cancelled (usually because of a tropical storm or hurricane). The dates are, in prioritized order, Oct. 24, Feb. 16, Nov. 24, Nov. 25, March 27, March 26, March 25, March 24, March 23 and Nov. 26.

Orange County Public Schools provides an information hotline for parents: (407) 317-3463. More back-to-school information can also be found at ocps.net.