CHESAPEAKE — It will be a school year of firsts as the students at the Chesapeake District come back to classes to experience a variety of new learning opportunities.

This will be the first year for the schools to operate under the much-touted strategic plan that was just adopted by the Chesapeake Board of Education. The plan, which took more than a year of work by administrators, students, teachers and community members, has set the core values and mission for the district.

“That will set the direction of the school system for the years to come,” Dr. Scott Howard, Chesapeake superintendent, said.

On Thursday, will be a community block party kicking off the partnership between Ohio University Proctorville and the school district where high school students and area residents can take college classes at the district’s facilities.

There will also be a series of continuing education classes ranging from ballroom dancing to computer classes that residents can take advantage of.

Starting this fall will be a series of classes at the three schools in the Chinese language and culture. They will be taught by former Chesapeake High graduate Nicole Thacker, who spent seven years living in China and studying Mandarin at Xi’an International University.

Thacker also worked at the university and at the Inner Mongolia Normal University teaching English as a foreign language.

An after-school program funded by a $200,000 21st Century Learning Grant from the Ohio Department of Education will offer 12 additional hours a week of teacher-student experience with the additional goal of offering literacy and educational services to families for students. The program will start out with 100 students and provide transportation for them.