Gilroy
– A bright mood on Gilroy campuses Monday contrasted with gloomy
morning skies as students happily started the school year.
Campuses from the elementary to high school level were buzzing
as students arrived fully equipped with new supplies and plenty of
summer stories to share.
Gilroy – A bright mood on Gilroy campuses Monday contrasted with gloomy morning skies as students happily started the school year.
Campuses from the elementary to high school level were buzzing as students arrived fully equipped with new supplies and plenty of summer stories to share.
“I’m happy to be back, I’m really excited to see everyone,” said Mackenzie Britton as she giggled with her fellow seventh graders at Ascencion Solorsano Middle School.
Students at Gilroy High School wandered around the quad during lunch claiming the best spots in the shade and catching up with friends.
School board trustees Bob Kraemer and Jim Rogers visited each school to get a sense of how prepared the staffs were for the first day.
“It was by far the best year I’ve ever seen,” Kraemer said. “It’s miraculous the change from a month ago to now, as far as construction. There are always going to be loose ends and we knew there would still be construction. I think that the staff did a wonderful job with the sites to pull it all together.”
He was most excited about the brand new kindergarten classrooms, built this summer at Glen View Elementary School.
“The teachers were just bubbling,” he said.
Kindergarten teacher Marilynn Dumlao invited the mothers and fathers inside to check out the classrooms when they dropped off their children.
“It’s a lot of room and it’s going to be great for the children,” Dumlao said. The students also have a new playground, located just behind the buildings on the corner of Eighth and Princevalle streets. “This is just wonderful. I’m really happy that the community passed the tax bond so we could have these facilities.”
Other construction projects were completed this summer, including the new quad at South Valley Middle School, which features a large cement rotunda in the center, surrounded by new pavement and landscaping.
The improvements at Gilroy High School are ongoing as expected. Principal Bob Bravo said one of the challenges for the day was directing traffic and managing the crowded food lines.
“You have a greater sense that there are 2,400 students here. People haven’t settled into their spots, so everyone is in front of the gym,” said Bravo.
He said he expects the problem to resolve itself as students settle into their routines. Despite a little more dust and a few extra fences, Bravo said he was happy with day one.
Diane Baty and two other parents stood by the GHS gates Monday morning to direct students to the gym to pick up their schedules. Baty wanted to organize this because there was no orientation to introduce freshman to the campus.
“Because of ongoing construction, they weren’t even able to walk around campus when they came to pick up their schedules before school,” Baty said. She said all the students seemed very comfortable walking on campus.
“I thought it would be hectic because there were no room numbers on the schedules we picked up (last week), but this morning they gave us new schedules and maps,” said senior Meg Perkins.
The GHS Parent Club welcomed back teachers by handing out survival kits that included office supplies, tissues and an assortment of other treats.
Ascencion Solorsano Principal Sal Tomasello addressed his students before class, emphasizing the importance of respecting the Eliot students sharing the campus for the second year until their school’s renovation is complete.
“You are the oldest students on campus,” he said to the seventh graders. “With that comes a lot of responsibility. Set an example and show respect to the sixth graders and Eliot students.”
The middle school’s challenge for the day was dealing with impacted classes. More than 30 percent of classes, excluding physical education and band, were expected to have more than 36 students.
No attendance numbers were available by press time.
Eliot School also had more students this year. They staggered their schedule to avoid potential problems with the middle school.
“We are trying to get the little kids in (class) before the middle school students get here,” said Principal Diane Elia.
One of the most intense parts of the day was when parents said good-bye to their kindergartners. Just after 8am Monday, Alice Breeding was one of a dozen parents hanging around the Glen View campus, reluctant to leave their kindergartners behind.
“Mommy’s just sad to let her baby go,” Breeding said, to nods of understanding from two mothers standing nearby.
Breeding peered through the window into Dumlao and Barbara Hardin’s kindergarten classroom, where her 5-year-old daughter, Jacklyn, sat on the floor with her new classmates. Wearing a hair barrette with red, white and blue ribbons, Jacklyn appeared at ease while waiting for class to start.
“She’s OK because she did pre-school for two years,” Breeding said. “She’s ready, plus she’s got an older sister at Luigi, so she knows what it’s like.”
Superintendent Edwin Diaz spent the morning between the district’s three middle schools.
“I was pleasantly surprised that things were so calm,” he said. “There’s always so much excitement starting off a new year.”
Staff writers Lori Stuenkel and Katie Niekerk contributed to this report.
