GILROY
– Schools in Gilroy Unified School District, including the
district’s largest construction project completed over the summer –
Ascencion Solorsano Middle School – opened to students Monday
morning.
By Lori Stuenkel
GILROY – Schools in Gilroy Unified School District, including the district’s largest construction project completed over the summer – Ascencion Solorsano Middle School – opened to students Monday morning.
“The partnership between Eliot and the middle school is very exciting for us,” said Sal Tomasello, principal of Ascencion Solorsano which will house sixth-graders and Eliot’s kindergarten through fifth-grade students. “Right now, (we’re) getting all students scheduled and into their classes.”
Some of Solorsano’s physical education and electives classes are above capacity, Tomasello said. One physical education class has 50 students while enrollment in band and “middle school life” classes is as high as 40 per class. The ideal is to have fewer than 35 students in each class. Once enrollment levels out later this week, students will be rearranged to reduce class sizes.
Monday morning, Eliot students were adjusting to the new campus as well, clustering together by class in front of Solorsano’s multipurpose room. Many held a parent’s hand as they waited in the warm sunshine to meet their new teachers and be led, single file, to a classroom.
“I was concerned because it (Solorsano) is such a big school,” Eliot Principal Diane Elia said.
Eliot students will continue to walk to their classrooms together each morning.
More Eliot parents brought their children to the school than Elia expected, possibly, because they wanted to see the new school.
“I’m ready for them to have a bigger school and in a safer area,” said Cid Toste, who has a son in the fifth grade and a daughter in second grade. “The kids are excited, so I’m excited. … I wanted to come see where the classes are and meet their teachers.”
Temperatures hit 100
Even as they headed to the first day of classes for the 2003-04 school year, students did not exactly put summer behind them. The high temperature in Gilroy was a record-setting 100 degrees, beating the record of 97 degrees set Aug. 25, 1959, according to the National Weather Service.
Schools that received modern, energy-efficient air-conditioning systems over the summer were thankful for the improvement.
“It’s well worth the tax dollars,” said El Roble Principal Mike Nebesnick. “The A/C is great.”
The new air conditioning was put to good use at South Valley Middle School as well.
“The improvements are excellent,” said Peggy Fortino, who teaches family and consumer education to seventh- and eighth-graders. “The air conditioning was very effective. It kept the school nice and cool even though it was very hot outside.”
All schools in GUSD now have air conditioning, however, a few classrooms suffered when their air-conditioning units malfunctioned.
Teachers scramble
Summer construction left some teachers scrambling to get their rooms set up over the weekend. At El Roble, construction prevented some teachers from entering their classrooms before Friday. In addition to new air conditioning and lighting, El Roble’s major improvement was replacing the partitions that separated classrooms with permanent walls. Teachers worked through the weekend, until as late as 10 p.m. Sunday, getting ready for students.
“We knew it would be up to the last minute,” Principal Mike Nebesnick said. “But it’s gone very smoothly today.”
While teachers normally have between one and two weeks to prepare classrooms for the upcoming year, El Roble’s buildings were opened in phases as they were completed last week, said Construction Manager Gary Corlett.
Those who were able to make it into their classrooms before Friday said they had to work around the electricity being turned on and off, fire alarm tests and furniture installation. They were further interrupted by staff development meetings.
“(We) just worked until (we) couldn’t stand up anymore,” said Donna Maddox, a second-grade teacher who worked on her classroom as many at 15 hours each day on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
Although they felt rushed to get ready, El Roble teachers praised the improvements made to the school.
“It was worth it. It was just a lot more work than I expected,” said third-grade teacher Amy Zimmerman. “(The construction workers) did a really good job.”
GUSD had eight additional workers at El Roble clambering to get classrooms ready for students, Corlett said.
“It’s always (a rush),” he said. “We essentially did six or seven months of work on the school in 70 days, so there’s always a push right at the end to get things ready.”
Gilroy Teachers Association will ask the school board to compensate those teachers who worked extra hours preparing their classrooms after construction. Teachers can currently get paid for up to 15 of those hours, said GTA President Michelle Nelson.
She said that teachers normally like to have their room set up as early as possible before the start of the year so they have time to settle in and re-arrange if need be.
“Once you get the room situated then you can focus on the actual lessons,” Nelson said.
Excitement and nerves
Students beginning a new year were both excited and nervous.
Holly Minarik bubbled over with enthusiasm as she walked to her first-grade class at Glen View Elementary School with her parents and little sister. Dressed in a navy blue jumper, Holly skipped along as she remembered some of her favorite activities from last school year.
“At school my favorite thing to do is the science projects,” Minarik said. “In kindergarten, we did projects for each letter and an ‘Under the Sea’ project.”
Minarik’s mother, Lara, was happy to see her zeal for learning.
“We’re excited, too,” Lara said.
At Gilroy High School, Elizabeth Carrillo hoped her senior year would live up to her expectations.
“I’m looking forward to all the events that they have for us … like the senior dinner dance,” she said.
The 2,500 students attending GHS made it to class even though the school’s 8 a.m. start time was 15 minutes earlier than the first day last year.
“Most everyone was in class by 8:10, which for the first day of class is pretty good,” Principal Bob Bravo said.
