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Start of School Crowded but Exciting St. Johns County Welcomes Students to Three Newly Built Elementary Schools.

Posted on: Wednesday, 17 August 2005, 18:00 CDT

Fresh-faced kids poured from buses and cars and into Timberlin Creek Elementary School on Friday, the first day of school in St. Johns County.

Nervous and excited, they funneled into one of three new elementary schools in a county known for explosive growth. They entered a facility that is already overcrowded on its first day, with kids packed into five relocatable classrooms and eight more on the way.

"It'll be fun," said 8-year-old Taylor Brown. She waited outside and prepared for her first day as a third-grader.

"We're excited," said her mother, Brenda Brown. "Ready to get the first day over with."

Despite $37.1 million for two new elementary schools in the northwest and one near Hastings, the well-known problem of overcrowding continues in a school system that had 21,670 students show up for opening day. That's an increase of 818 over last year, schools spokeswoman Margie Davidson said.

But a county known for good public education came through on time with all three new schools, with microphones for teachers, wall- mounted projectors and wireless internet hookups in all the classrooms. The county now has 17 public elementary schools.

Flagler County, which started classes Thursday along with Baker County, opened two new schools. The $33 million Matanzas High School is in northern Flagler County and the $16.6 million Belle Terre Elementary School is in Palm Coast.

Classes start Monday for Duval and Clay counties, while Nassau County students were among the others to have a Friday opening day.

At 7:30 a.m. Friday, Timberlin Creek Principal Cathy Hutchins was waist-deep in a river of children. She channeled them from the bus into the school.

"Good morning," she said. "Have a great first day!"

Fifth-grader Jordan Williams waited in the lobby with his aunt. The 10-year-old said he used to attend Mill Creek Elementary, but he thinks everyone in his subdivision had been shifted over to Timberlin.

"I'm nervous because I might not know anybody," he said.

Was he excited? He shook his head, no.

"You were excited yesterday," his aunt Lisa Smith said.

He looked at her and shook his head again.

Some parents drove their children straight to the $12.1 million school; others put them on buses, then drove themselves to school to meet the buses there. The Haberman family beat their first-grade and fifth-grade girls to school.

"They wouldn't let me ride the bus," parent Adam Haberman said. "They wouldn't let me follow it, either, so I met them here."

His 12-year-old son, Matthew, a seventh-grader at nearby Switzerland Point Middle School, reminisced on his first day in school as he waited for his sisters.

"I was a little nervous," he said. "A little scared. But my sisters will be fine."

A few miles to the west, students, staff and family at Hickory Creek Elementary School went through similar motions. With a projected population of 569, the $12.2 million school is nearly identical to Timberlin but without the portable classrooms.

"We're going to be a school with a focus on academic excellence through the arts," Principal Paul Goricki said. "We know that the arts help kids catch and keep the learning."

South Woods Elementary School off Florida 206 near Hastings was expected to have between 530 and 545 students, Principal Lionel "Skeeter" Key said. The $12.8 million school will serve students who used to attend the now-closed Hastings Elementary.

"We are rural," Key said. "We are the largest, land-wise, school zoned for elementary schools in St. Johns County. We have farmland around us instead of apartment complexes."

Construction for the new schools came in under budget and on time, said David Toner, the school system's executive director for facilities and operations. South Woods posed a challenge because the county does not provide that area with water, so the school system had to provide an on-site plant to treat water and waste, he said.

"The only real difficulties we had during the construction was the result of the hurricanes that we had last year," Toner said. The storms created a shortage of materials.

The previous prototype for elementary schools had been used seven times. The new one is modeled after Durbin Creek Elementary, which opened in 2003 while still under construction. The plan has now been used on four schools. Each has different colors and moveable walls.

"That gives you the ability to open space up and make a large room that can be used by multiple groups, or close it down to a regular classroom size," Toner said.

The school system is pleased with the schools, he said.

"There's always a kind of feeling of success when you're able to open three at one time," Toner said.

At Timberlin, Hutchins and the staff are motoring into what promises to be a busy year, with a student body that includes three sets of twins in kindergarten, a set of triplets and a set of quintuplets in third grade. Students arrived in waves, one scheduled for 7:30 a.m., the next for 8:30 and a third at 10:30.

"Everyone wants to be on [County Road] 210, so therefore we have to accommodate that growth," Hutchins said. "Being a public school as we are, we can't hang out that no-vacancy sign."ken.lewis@jacksonville.com, (904) 819-3546NEW IN ST. JOHNSTIMBERLIN CREEK ELEMENTARYLocation: County Road 210 and Greenbriar RoadCost: $12.1 millionEnrollment: about 900Principal: Cathy HutchinsMascot: eagleMotto: "Together creating excellence"Colors: burgundy, white, navy blueHICKORY CREEK ELEMENTARY SCHOOLLocation: 781 Greenbriar RoadCost: $12.2 millionEnrollment: about 600Principal: Paul GorickiMascot: hawkMotto: "First we love them, then we teach them"Colors: purple, teal, orangeSOUTH WOODS ELEMENTARY SCHOOLLocation: Cowpen Branch Road and Florida 206Cost: $12.8 millionEnrollment: about 540Principal: Lionel "Skeeter" KeyMascot: students will decideMotto: "Where every child counts. For students: We're safe, courteous and learning at all times."Colors: students will decide

Source: Florida Times Union

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