Scenes from Day 1 in some consolidated D-11 schools
Students came laden with backpacks and extra bags of school supplies, as they do on the first day of school every year.
The annual rite included separating anxious kindergartners from their parents and giving sixth graders enough time to figure out how to open lockers and stuff bulging backpacks into the narrow space.
And in Colorado Springs School District 11 it meant keeping a close eye on enrollment numbers at schools impacted by closures and consolidations.
The numbers were mostly on target with predictions, but there were at least a few surprises, Superintendent Nicholas Gledich said early Tuesday. Enrollment numbers exceeded expectations at North and Jenkins middle schools, Swigert Aerospace Academy and McAuliffe Elementary, he said.
The district usually waits a month or so for numbers to shake out before making many staff adjustments, but Gledich said he’s already made some adjustments because of classroom numbers and expects to make more by early September.
Gledich visited a half-dozen school Tuesday, and served breakfast at Hunt Elementary School and lunch at West Elementary and Middle schools. He also sent his deputies and executive directors out to make rounds.
Here’s a look at scenes Tuesday from a handful of D-11 schools:
It was a typical first day, except for a few things.
Well, make that about 335 “things.” That’s how much the school’s enrollment has jumped, based on preliminary figures, because of the consolidation of three schools into one. Many children who last year attended Adams and Ivywild elementary schools are now Hunt pupils because those schools were closed.
The enrollment Tuesday was 475, up from 140 last year.
So of course there’s more teachers, more aides, more of everything. And five buses arrived to drop off children from outside the former walk-in boundary.
Staff members in orange vests swarmed the grounds, directing parents and students to the cafeteria for breakfast, where Superintendent Gledich greeted each child individually as he dished up pancakes and sausage.
“Good morning,” he said to a youngster on crutches. “We need to get you some help here.”
When a classmate stepped up to carry her tray, Gledich asked her name and thanked her for helping.
Dressed in a white chef’s shirt and black and white checked hat, Gledich served food for about an hour, and then chatted with Principal George Ewing as they watched the children follow their teachers to the classrooms.
“I don’t know if I want to say it out loud, but I think it went kind of smoothly,” Ewing said with a chuckle. He’d been making the rounds all morning, greeting students and parents, checking on the cafeteria, the playground and throughout the buildings.
About 11 a.m., the shining hallways were quiet, and the aroma of pizza, chicken nuggets, hot pretzels and other selections wafted from the cafeteria. About 900 students showed up for class Tuesday.
Principal Sherry Kalbach said about 1,000 are enrolled and there’s a waiting list of students who live outside Sabin’s attendance area. About 700 students attended the school last year. The school’s capacity is 1,200, but the ideal enrollment for the middle school style schedule is 1,000, she said.
The school also added two programs that were at Irving, and about 20 teachers.
The increased numbers also meant more new sixth graders soon would wrestle to open lockers to drop off books or retrieve lunches from home and head to the cafeteria. Staff was ready to direct them to various stations, but the lines moved slowly.
Kalbach said that’s the norm for the first few days with the new students because they don’t yet have IDs that can be quickly scanned, and the stations with various offerings are new to them.
About 20 sixth graders still were lined up for pizza or made-to-order sub sandwiches when the bell rang, but Kalbach announced that those still eating or waiting for food would be given extra time.
Two girls who were among the last to get sub sandwiches said they were worth the wait.
A few portable classrooms are clustered on the south side of the school while workers add six permanent classrooms on the north side. The portables house three regular classes, a special education class and band and music. There’s also one for the Adventure Club before and after school care center.
Construction is expected to be completed in December so the new classrooms will be ready second semester. Principal Anne Dancy said the classes will move into the main building, but whether other activities remain in portables depends on where enrollment is then.
Enrollment is up about 75 students – to about 300 – and Dancy said it’s exciting to have new students, most of whom formerly attended Pike Elementary.
The school also got a lot of Pike’s books and supplies, and a roving district team was busy on Tuesday cataloging books for the media center.
And inside the classrooms, students were already beginning their lessons.
Dancy, who’s been principal at Jackson for 20 years, said the staff always stresses over getting ready for the first day because when the students arrive “it’s like welcoming people into your house.”
But then it usually goes off without a hitch, as it did Tuesday, she said.
Enrollment here is up about 35 students, mostly a small influx from Pike. Principal Manuel Ramsey also transferred from Pike and said summer meetings with the staff meant he and everyone else was prepared for opening day.
“It’s similar to Pike, but different,” he said of his new digs.”It’s a fabulous school with a hotshot staff. I’m very fortunate to be here and to still be in a west side school.”
The office resembled a beehive Tuesday afternoon, as staffers wearing black t-shirts lettered in white with “West crew” conferred and set out to take care of a million details. Over the weekend, construction workers were in the same space, trying to complete a major remodel of much of the building, which formerly housed the city’s West Intergenerational Center.
Enrollment was at 298, mostly former Washington and Whittier elementary students.
Learning Resource Teacher Ginny Beaudreau said any lingering construction work will be completed when students aren’t in the building.
ELSEWHERE IN D-11
School zone signs still stand on many streets near buildings that were shut down in May by D-11.
The parking lot at Irving Middle School was vacant, the marquee blank.
At Pike Elementary, the marquee advertised the first day of school and gave numbers for two other schools that have former Pike students: Jackson and Bristol. The building now houses the small records and archives offices and is a temporary home for the Colorado Springs Youth Symphony.
Some came in nervous, others giddy and some wishing it was still summer as students made it to the first day of school at Helen Hunt Elementary on Tuesday, Aug. 18, 2009. The school bus arrives to drop some of the students off. New Colorado Springs Scho Photo by staff photographer
Some came in nervous, others giddy and some wishing it was still summer as students made it to the first day of school at Helen Hunt Elementary on Tuesday, Aug. 18, 2009. New Colorado Springs School District 11 Superintendent Dr. Nicolas Gledich waited f Photo by staff photographer
Some came in nervous, others giddy and some wishing it was still summer as students made it to the first day of school at Helen Hunt Elementary on Tuesday, Aug. 18, 2009. New Colorado Springs School District 11 Superintendent Dr. Nicolas Gledich waited f Photo by staff photographer