With ‘Back to School’ nights now completed at all school sites – the final one hosted on Thursday, Aug. 18 at El Portal Middle School – the 2016-17 school  year is officially off and running.

Escalon Unified School District Superintendent Ron Costa said that overall, the first couple of weeks have gone by smoothly.

“I have visited all sites and students and staff are already working very hard,” Costa noted.

The district started out with a count of 2,860 students and that had climbed to 2,903 by the end of the first full week.

“That is compared to 2875 last year,” Costa said.

Numbers continue to fluctuate for the first few weeks of school and Costa said the enrollment is also strong in the charter school, with 291 students in the charter school, 128 of those in classrooms and 163 in the Gateway homeschool program.

Today, Wednesday, Aug. 24 is a minimum day for students due to staff development and September will bring a few special days as well. Monday, Sept. 5 is Labor Day with no school scheduled; Wednesday, Sept. 14 is a minimum day for staff development; Friday, Sept .23 will be a minimum day due to Homecoming; and Wednesday, Sept. 28 will be no school for students, as teachers meet for a full staff development day.