Doors Swing Open On New School Year

BRASHER FALLS - Even a cool, rainy morning didn't appear to dampen the spirits of kids, parents and teachers Tuesday as schools opened through the area.

"She's so excited," said Roberta Taylor, a kindergarten teacher at St. Lawrence Central School, as she brought her daughter, Emily, to school for her first day of kindergarten.

The smiles were out in abundance on Tuesday. Children appeared happy to be returning to school or coming for the first time. Teachers waited by the front door with open arms and smiles, hugging students they recalled from years past. And parents happily took pictures of their child in front of the school before they ventured into their classrooms.

A sign posted above a window outside St. Lawrence Central Elementary welcomed the students back.

"Welcome back to the best school in the world," it read.

Inside, a digital sign in the lobby flashed another message that read, "Welcome back!! September 7. Day 1."

The story was similar at AA Kingston Middle School in Potsdam, where someone had used chalk to write, "welcome back" in front of the main entrance doors to the school.

Students started arriving at St. Lawrence Central Elementary School around 8:30 a.m., but some had already been there, patiently biding their time in the cafeteria with games and videos until their classroom opened. It gave them a chance to reminisce about the hot, sticky summer that just wrapped up and the school year that was just beginning.

"I played in my pool a lot" and visited the North Pole, first-grader Gabriel Hornung said.

Still, he said, he was looking forward to school being open again, giving him an opportunity to see some of his friends.

"I missed most of them. I got to see one of them," Gabriel said. "I just don't want homework."

His brother, third-grader Sean Hornung, had a busy summer, visiting Lake George, Great Escape and 4-H camp. Some of his friends at school were also part of some of his summer activities.

"I saw a few of them at 4H camp," Sean said.

Superintendent Stephen M. Putman said he saw a lot of happy faces as he made his rounds of the schools Tuesday.

"Things are going pretty well. Kids are always happy to be back in the beginning," he said. "I think it's going pretty smoothly."

Mr. Putman said there were a few first-day glitches, but "nothing insurmountable."

"I didn't see any kids lined up outside the guidance office" waiting for schedule changes, he said.

Enrollment, for the most part, was staying steady, according to the superintendent.

"In the last couple of days we just had over 20 students enroll. Usually it takes a few days for the dust to settle. I think our enrollment is actually holding pretty steady," he said, noting that data indicates they're one of the few component districts in the St. Lawrence-Lewis Board of Cooperative Educational Services to keep their numbers steady over the past 10 years.

Massena Central School Superintendent Roger B. Clough II said their opening day was successful.

"Day one is going excellent. We had a really good opening. Everything went off without a hitch," Mr. Clough said after he had visited all the district's buildings.

"It was good seeing the kids back in their rooms. Teachers were excited, the kids had a lot of new clothes on," he said.

The district is seeing an increase in the number of students this year, according to Mr. Clough.

"We are up about 75 students district-wide. Last year at this time we were about 2,820. This year we're about 2,900," he said. "Enrollment is up, which is good news. Our Pre-K classes are full and we have waiting lists."

In Potsdam, Superintendent Patrick H. Brady called Tuesday "one of our smoothest starts ever."

"I think everyone was very prepared, ready to come back to school. We had a few tears in the elementary from a couple of students," he said. "It was a great first day, a very smooth start. We're happy to have the students back in school."

As part of the new year at Potsdam Central, Mr. Brady said the middle school staff are using a program called Google Docs "in order to get away from paper."

"Locker assignments and homework collaboration were done there. That helps," he said.

Enrollment is down slightly, according to Mr. Brady, who said they had 1,485 students last year and have dropped down a bit to 1,455 this year.

"Most of that is in our middle school level. We have a group of small classes moving their way through. But the classes ahead and behind them are back to average. The high school is right about where we were last year, as is the elementary school," Mr. Brady said.

Elementary school enrollment at Norwood-Norfolk Central School was "rising by the day," according to Superintendent Elizabeth A. Kirnie.

"Every day we've had three or four new students enroll. That's a very good sign of the health of the district," she said.

It was another opening day that went off smoothly, as students and teachers arrived in their classrooms and began using some of the new technology that was put into place over the summer.

"The teachers are very enthusiastic about the new technologies in their classroom. I saw in just about every classroom I went into, they were trying new things to engage the students with the interactive white boards. One class has a School Tool system on the board. Students could touch their name and essentially do their own attendance in our student data system," Mrs. Kirnie said.

"It was a well-planned, well-executed first day. It will be another excellent year," she predicted.

Colton-Pierrepont Central School Superintendent Martin J. Bregg said they had "some minor glitches" with schedules on Tuesday, but otherwise it was another good opening day.

"We're very happy with it. It was a very smooth opening. The faculty seems very enthusiastic to be back and so are kids," Mr. Bregg said.

Lunch was a little crowded, but we do a modified schedule the first week" for class meetings, he noted.

Although they're seeing a few more students at the elementary level, Mr. Bregg said Colton-Pierrepont's enrollment is "about the same as last year."

"The high school is kind of stable. We have about 300 students in Pre-K through grade 12. It's a nice group of kids," he said.

At Parishville-Hopkinton Central School, Superintendent Darin P. Saiff said it was "a very nice opening."

"It was great," he said. "Everybody's up and running. It seems like business as usual. It seems like everything is off and running and we're in good shape."

It was good to see the school back in action again, according to Mr. Saiff.

"It's always great to have the ids the kids come back. It breathes life back into the building when they come back," he said.

Their enrollment, he said, was "fairly consistent" from previous years.

"I haven't seen a big change in our student population. We may have seen a small reduction over the years," Mr. Saiff said.

Day one likewise went well at Trinity Catholic School in Massena, according to Principal Joan M. Rufa.

"It's been a great day. It's gone very smoothly. We've had a wonderful transition," she said. "It's been really just super. The kids are all happy. They're telling me they're happy to be back. The teachers are telling me they're happy. They've been working hard the last couple of weeks getting everything together."

Trinity's enrollment this year is "down a little bit, but not significantly," Mrs. Rufa said. "We're down by about five students. That's not bad at all. I always breathe a big sigh of relief. You never know what enrollment is until day one. I was really nervous because kindergarten registration was low this year."

However, after checking with other area schools, she discovered that kindergarten enrollment was also low at public schools and across the county.

Trinity Catholic School has a different theme they stress each year, and the theme for the 2010-11 year is "Give Faith a Chance, I Hope You Dance." And, Mrs. Rufa said the year will involve dancing.

"All the teachers had to dance last week at our two staff development days," she said.