PARKE COUNTY, Ind – For the first time, Parke Heritage High School and Parke Heritage Middle School opened their doors to students as members of the new North Central Parke Community School Corporation today.

“This is where it begins for us, right here right now,” said High School Principal Mr. Dwight Ashley during the open house held at the high school on Monday evening.

“Everything we do together, we do everything as a team. We are unified in academics, arts, music and athletics. We will strive for excellence in every area,” said Ashley.

Open houses were held Monday evening at all four schools to welcome students and to allow them to see their new schools and classrooms.

At the end of the high school’s open house, a pep session was held to welcome students and the community to Parke Heritage High School. The pep session included talks from football coach Brian Moore, tennis coach Michael Slater and student council sponsor Stephanie Studebaker.

“We are in a unique and awesome situation. We have the tradition of two schools coming together to create new awesome opportunities,” said Coach Moore. “We have great kids playing hard. It’s an exciting time for the community.

The band also introduced the audience to the school’s new fight song. The band and cheerleaders worked together to pep up the crowd.

On Tuesday, the first day of classes, students had to adjust to new schedules, bus routes and for some bus shuttles. At the middle school, students were greeted by elementary principal Mrs. Jenny Benjamin and middle school principal Mr. Scott Schulz as well as several other staff members.

“Like every first day of school, there are some kinks that will need to be worked out. Overall, I thought the morning schedule went great,” said middle school principal Mr. Scott Schulz. “The first week is always bumpy and we will work on issues as they come along.”