School year off to good start

Source: Richmond Times-Dispatch, Va.迷你倉新蒲崗Sept. 04--It all worked out just fine on the first day of school.There were a few late buses and a few tears, and a few parents had to wait in line to register their children, but for the most part, the 2013-14 school year got off to a good start Tuesday."Today's a great day that's only going to get better," Howard Hopkins, the interim principal at Richmond's new alternative school for middle and high school students, said as he led a tour of his school.Across town, at the city's John B. Cary Elementary, Principal Brenda Phillips was smiling, too."I couldn't be more pleased," she said. "The children are fine. They'll make friends. The adults, I don't always know about."For the most part, those adults did their part in helping get more than 150,000 students out of bed, away from home and into the more than 200 public schools in 21 school districts in central Virginia.Across the area, superintendents, school board members and other dignitaries made the rounds to check in and make sure their months of summer planning led to a smooth opening.At Chesterfield County's Bensley Elementary, Principal Bessie Cooper was good-naturedly haranguing officials visiting her school, urging them to provide one more fifth-grade teacher, to drop class size.Everything was going well, she said, "other than that we have 30 kids in a classroom.""If you give me another teacher, I will sit here quietly," she told them.In Hanover, School Board Chairman Robert L. Hundley Jr. said the schools seemed to jump into the year full-speed."We visited several classrooms where kids were jumping right into their new learning," Hundley said. "We pretty much get right down to business, and the kids get right into the swing of things."A major change that went into effect for this school year is Hanover high school teachers are instructing six class periods, up from five. While Hundley said it's too early to assess the impact, everything appeared to be going smoothly."From the teachers we spoke with and the administrators we spoke with, everybody seemed to be adapting quite well," he said.In Henrico, Kaechele Elementary, named for longtime Henrico Board of Supervisors member David A. Kaechele, welcomed students for the first time.Staff members, wearing teal and orange jerseys bearing the name of the school's mascot, the Coyotes, greeted students at their parents' cars and ushered them into the building, which had a bright aura of newness. Police officer Mike Hobbs bent down to give high fives as he stood on the sidewalk near the entrance."It takes a team approach. It's not just one person," Principal Cindy Patterson said as she hustled to get things underway. "We've really worked hard to get where we are today."Deputy Superintendent Patrick C. Kinlaw, the acting head of Henrico schools because of Superintendent Patrick J. Russo's placement on paid leave, made an early morning stop at Kaechele, one of eight schools he visited throughout the day."There have been a few situations where we had a bus break down or something like that but nothing out of the ordinary," Kinlaw said.Kinlaw said he wasn't aware of 迷你倉出租ny "excessive" transportation issues. He also said that at Henrico High School, where a major renovation project is underway, students were quickly adjusting to new patterns."Everywhere I went, there was a great deal of energy," Kinlaw said.In Richmond, interim Superintendent Jonathan Lewis was also making the rounds, with at least eight schools to visit."I really get a sense of how things are going," he said of being in schools rather than this office the first week of the year. "You can get a phone call and hear about it, but there's nothing like actually being out and about."Lewis and School Board members Chairman Jeff M. Bourne, 3rd District; Kimberly Gray, 2nd; Kirsten N. Larson, 4th; and Mamie L. Taylor, 5th, spent part of the morning together visiting several of the schools affected by board decisions last spring.Cary Elementary was central to that. The school was on the chopping block last year. While it survived, its attendance zone was shifted, and it received hundreds of students from Clark Springs Elementary, which was closed."I just wanted to make sure this worked," said Phillips, the principal.One of those adults who came in with a critical eye left with a big smile on her face.Rosalyn Ellis, whose daughter Wildajah Brown shifted from Clark Springs to Cary for the fourth grade, said she was pleasantly surprised."I loved it," she said. "I came in with some attitude after Clark Springs closed, but once you got in (Cary), wow, it's just so organized. It's the nicest school I've ever seen."Cary's enrollment nearly doubled this year, from a little more than 200 to more than 360.At nearby Fox Elementary, enrollment is up, too, with 567 students enrolled in a school that held 450 a few years ago."It's all fine," said Principal Daniela Jacobs. "We're off to a good start."Benedictine College Preparatory, one of the few area private schools to start after Labor Day, began its school year at a new campus in Goochland County. On Friday, the cadets will mark the transition with a ceremonial march, in relay stages, from its century-old home on Sheppard Street in Richmond to the new campus.Among the few problems reported on the first day were transportation issues.In Henrico, students at Wilder Middle were stranded as they waited for their bus to show up."How can you expect these kids to make the transition to middle school when they can't even get there on time?" said county resident Thomas Jeffers, who called to report that the bus was more than 30 minutes late.In Richmond, Oak Grove Elementary had a bumper crop of walk-in registrations -- at least 40, or about 20 times more than at Fox -- and some parents had to wait."We were able to take care of everyone," spokeswoman Felicia Cosby said. "It took a little while, but we called in extra hands. On the first day, there are always hiccups."zreid@timesdispatch.com(804) 775-8179Staff writers Graham Moomaw, Brandon Shulleeta and Ted Strong contributed to this report.Copyright: ___ (c)2013 the Richmond Times-Dispatch (Richmond, Va.) Visit the Richmond Times-Dispatch (Richmond, Va.) at .timesdispatch.com Distributed by MCT Information Services迷你倉