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Back to School Rush set for Saturday

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With the first day of school right around the corner, the Lee County School District is partnering with the Florida Department of Health and Lee Health for a Back to School Rush Saturday, providing free immunizations, screenings, physicals and enrollment to complete the registration process of back to school.

Executive Director of Student Enrollment Soretta Ralph said this is the first time the district has held a Back to School Rush event.

“We realized that it’s difficult for parents to get here during the day,” she said of the enrollment office. “We have extended hours that many of our families cannot get to.”

The school district has been working closely with the Florida Department of Health and thought since they are open on Saturdays, they should offer their services on Saturday as well.

To make things more convenient for families, Back to School Rush was created and will be held from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 3. Families can go and get their immunizations done at the Florida Department of Health, 3920 Michigan Avenue, and then stop by the district’s office, 2855 Colonial Blvd, to finish their paperwork and get their child enrolled.

The immunizations are being offered for free through the Florida Department of Health for students up to 18 years old.

“We need kiddos in school on the first day of school,” Ralph said.

A partnership that was developed with Lee Health that will further help families Saturday. She said Fort Myers physicians and their nurses will be donating their time to do physicals free of charge during the Back to School Rush.

Ralph said the community is all coming together to help families.

“This is a great opportunity for new students and some returning students to get everything they need in one day to start school,” Director of Positive Prevention Chuck Bradley said in a prepared statement. “We don’t want students to miss any time in class because they didn’t get the required shots, the necessary physicals, or enrolled on time.”

Ralph said they are excited about how student enrollment has been going so far.

“Our district is continuing to be a growing district. We are excited to get students enrolled and meet their needs. We have standing room only most days, but we try to get everyone through on a timely manner,” she said.

The first week of enrollment brought in 1,299 families and July 29-July 31, there were another 930 families enrolled.

“Those are new families, or children enrolling in the school district for the first time,” Ralph said.