Backpacks were barely unpacked before students across Jeff Davis County’s youngest grade levels were already busy learning. From creative play and early literacy to engineering challenges, coding, science experiments and reading competitions, August has been an active first month at Jeff Davis Pre-K, Jeff Davis Primary School and Jeff Davis Elementary School.
A look inside classrooms during the opening weeks of the 2026-27 school year shows that while students may be having plenty of fun, there is a lot of learning happening along the way.
At Jeff Davis Primary-Pre-K, learning began from the very first days of school. Photos shared by the school show some of the district’s youngest students coloring, cutting, playing and participating in creative activities designed to keep little hands — and minds — busy. For Pre-K students, activities that may look like play are also opportunities to practice important early skills, from following directions and interacting with classmates to developing creativity and fine motor skills. The school summed up its August start simply: “Our students have been hard at work since the first day of school!”
At Jeff Davis Primary School (K-2), students have been discovering that learning can involve all five senses. As part of a unit on sight, smell, hearing, taste and touch, classes used popcorn for a hands-on lesson. Students observed what the popcorn looked like, smelled it, listened to its sounds, described how it felt and — perhaps the most popular part — tasted it. But the lesson didn’t stop when the popcorn was gone.
Students turned those observations into writing, using sensory words and descriptive language to explain what they experienced. The activity connected a hands-on science lesson with developing writing skills.
Literacy has also been a major focus during the opening weeks. Students participated in UFLI review literacy stations and an interactive read-aloud, where they had an opportunity to “Show What They Know” about newly learned vocabulary.
Some JDPS students traded pencils for toothpicks and marshmallows as they became engineers for the day. Given a real-world-style design challenge for “Marshmallow Inc.,” students were asked to construct a tall, stable tower using only the two materials. They didn’t simply start building.
Students worked through the engineering design process — asking questions, imagining possible solutions, planning their structures, creating prototypes, testing them and then improving areas that didn’t work. The challenge introduced an important lesson that goes well beyond marshmallow towers: the first solution isn’t always the best solution. Students learned that testing, making changes and trying again are all part of solving problems.
Technology education is beginning early, too. Through the Primary School’s STEM program, students are using small robots called Ozobots to explore introductory coding and computer science concepts. Students draw paths and use special color combinations to give the robots commands. As an Ozobot “reads” the lines and colors, children can immediately see how a series of instructions — or an algorithm — determines what the robot does.
The activities allow young students to explore coding in an age-appropriate way while practicing problem-solving, sequencing and critical thinking. The lessons also connect with Georgia Computer Science Standards for kindergarten through second grade, including understanding how people interact with technology and how step-by-step instructions can be used to accomplish a task.
At Jeff Davis Elementary School, students are being encouraged to make reading a daily habit — with a little friendly competition thrown in. JDES is using Beanstack to allow students to track the time they spend reading. Students can read fiction, nonfiction, graphic novels or other books and log their minutes. As their reading time grows, they earn digital badges, build reading streaks, compete on leaderboards and have opportunities to earn prizes.
Every student who earns a reading badge is also entered into the school’s weekly prize drawing, and JDES has already celebrated its first group of winners. The goal behind the incentives is bigger than collecting badges. The school hopes tracking daily reading will help students develop healthy reading habits and become more confident readers — ultimately encouraging a lifelong love of books.
The first month of school often brings plenty of adjustment — new teachers, new classrooms, new routines and, for some students, an entirely new school. But across Jeff Davis Pre-K, Primary and Elementary, August also brought plenty of opportunities to get right down to learning. Whether they were holding a crayon, describing popcorn, building a marshmallow tower, programming a tiny robot or opening a book, Jeff Davis County’s youngest Jackets have spent their first weeks doing much more than settling in.
They’ve hit the ground running.
