First Day of School Gets an A Not Even Any Serious Busing or Traffic Issues

Teacher Deborah Dean couldn’t stop smiling Monday as she scurried through the labyrinth of hallways to her second-grade class at Arlington Elementary School the first day of school.

Her cheerful blouse, reflected in the highly polished tile floors, was as bright as her smile.

“This old school is just beautiful,” she said. “We have a new principal [and] he has gotten this place looking spick-and-span. We may be in an old building, but I’d stack this school up against any in the city.”

Timothy Warren, the school’s new principal, admitted he can be a perfectionist, concerned even with the shine on the floor. He said appearance sets a tone for achievement.

“But, of course, the main thing we want to do is have an academically rigorous curriculum with intensive remediation, then provide a supportive atmosphere for students,” he said. “It’s a new beginning and we want to do what we can to help the students and faculty meet their goals.”

Selenda Keyes, regional director for most of Arlington’s schools, said the first few days of school “went about as smoothly as we’ve seen.”

She and regional superintendant Terri Stahlman visited the region’s 35 schools over the first two days of school.

Keyes said there were no significant busing or traffic issues. She said a new 24-room wing addition at Merrill Road Elementary School “is simply beautiful.” She added that a new Arlington Middle School being built on the same campus as the 44-year-old school it’s replacing is not causing disruptions.

“The principal and construction contractor have a great working relationship, and the school is running smoothly even as constructions is under way,” she said.

The new 167,000-square-foot school is nearing completion. The more than 900 students who started school at Arlington Middle this year will ceremoniously march to the the new school the first day back from Christmas break.

“We’re going to count down the days till we move to our new school,” said Debbie Smith, principal of Arlington Middle. “We’re all excited about it, and I think we’re going to create a countdown clock so we can mark off the days till the big move.”

Over at Arlington Heights Elementary, hundreds of students were treated to a surprise pizza party on the first day of school. The pizza was provided by the Arlington council of the Chamber of Commerce to celebrate the school’s three straight A’s on the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test.

Ken Revell, president of the Arlington council of the Chamber of Commerce, said his group has “adopted” and provided a variety of academic support for the school, including books and hands-on mentoring.

“We decided to do something fun this year and throw a big pizza party for all 500 or so students,” he said. “We just thought it would be great to start things off on a positive note.”

Robert Snyder, Arlington Heights Elementary principal, said he was “thrilled” with the tasty idea. He added that everything was going pretty well at the school on the first day back.

At Woodland Acres Elementary School, a team of volunteers from PHH Mortgage helped parents, teachers and students deal with the first-day jitters. The volunteers helped greet students, direct them to their new classrooms and introduce them to their new teachers.

Also making a special appearance at Woodland Acres was Toys R Us mascot Geoffrey the Giraffe, who helped introduce this year’s school theme, “Your Safari to Success.”

In addition to Arlington Elementary, two other Arlington schools got new principals. Julie Hudson went to Merrill Road Elementary School, transferring from Carter G. Woodson Elementary School, and Caroline Wells became principal of Abess Park Elementary, where she was vice principal last year.

An estimated 129,400 students returned to school Monday in Duval County’s 105 elementary, 26 middle and 17 high schools, as well as five special schools, two academies of technology and three exceptional education schools.

Kindergarten and elementary programs run from 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Middle school students can sleep in a bit because their school days start at 9:15 a.m. and end at 4:15 p.m., while high-schoolers are the early risers, with a class day that runs from 7:15 a.m. to 2:15 p.m.

The first day off is Labor Day, on Monday, Sept. 5. Other upcoming holidays are Monday, Oct. 10; Friday, Nov. 11; Thursday- Friday, Nov. 24-25; and Monday, Dec. 19, through Tuesday, Jan. 3.john.carter@jacksonville.com,(904) 359-4539