NAPOLEONVILLE - Students attending Assumption Parish schools a year ago won't find many big changes when they return next week; however, Superintendent John Barthelemy says he's excited about a few new programs and safety measures the system has implemented.

One of those: revamping their virtual academy, making it more user-friendly for students and parents who choose to learn from home.

"Some of our kids are not going to school every single day; they don't want to go to school every single day, but they still want to be educated, they still want to be connected to the system," Barthelemy said.

As for security, Dr. Barthelemy says officials at all schools will continue to check backpacks daily, part of a multi-pronged approach the district uses to keep students and staff safe.

"In Assumption Parish, we focus on several different things: we have metal detectors, we have our searches, we have the Rave app, we have Crime Stoppers, we have something called ZeroEyes, which is a weapon detection system," he said.

Dr. Barthelemy says starting this school year, almost every campus in the parish will operate with single-point entryways.

He showed us one example at Assumption High School where the main entryway will now lock after the bell rings, and only a side door will allow parents, visitors, and students to enter during the school day.

"When you come on campus and go through these doors, you have access to all of the classrooms, all of our kids, all of our teachers. What we're doing, different now: these doors will be locked and secured after kids are on campus. Now, parents, anybody coming on campus after the bell rings, will have to come through this single-point entry," Barthelemy said.

When it comes to transportation, Dr. Barthelemy says the challenge is making sure they have enough substitute drivers.

"If one person misses work, you know that throws a lot of the different routes off. We're very limited on the substitutes that we have, so we encouraging right now; we're recruiting bus drivers, but we will have routes and everything ready to go for the beginning of school," he said.

Another new twist this year is a program called 'Data Digs,' which uses data of student work to show teachers where they are effective and what they can improve on.

Assumption students return to school on Aug. 6.