The first day of school for Georgetown ISD is Aug. 25, and this school year brings a few changes:Superintendent Fred Brent will begin his first school year with GISD, and middle school students will taking courses that count for high school credit will have new grading guidelines.

According to the 201415 grading guidelines approved by the GISD board of trustees July 21, courses taken in middle school that count for high school credit will also count for each student's grade point average and class rank.

Grading criteria for those courses will also be treated as high school courses with 70 percent coming from major grades and 30 percent from daily grades.

The classes affected by these changes include health, algebra I and Spanish I. The new rules are effective for students entering the ninthgrade this year and beyond.

On Aug. 18 at the GISD board meeting Fred Brent expressed his enthusiasm for the first day.

I cant wait for that day to get here, he said.

Brent was selected by the board of trustees to serve as superintendent June 23, replacing former Superintendent Joe Dan Lee who served the district for seven years.