Douglas County West Students Cope With Change

The start of the school year was about as wild as the live falcon that visited the Douglas County West Community Schools today.

"This is your new mascot," Denise Lewis, a falcon handler for Raptor Recovery Nebraska Inc., told wide-eyed students at a middle school assembly in Waterloo. "As you can see by his flapping wings, he is not a house pet. He is still a wild animal."

The daily school routine was still being tamed this morning as the new district worked out last-minute issues. The former Waterloo and Valley districts combined this summer because of financial difficulties and declining enrollment. The new district has high school and elementary classes in Valley. The middle school is in Waterloo.

Buses ran late in both Valley and Waterloo, prompting some parents to drive their children. Students scrambled to find new classrooms. Staff guided the lost. The district’s computer system even went down.

The buildings and much of the staff remained the same in the transition, but banners and balloons sported new school colors of black, silver and red.

"I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to be a principal in a new school district," said Mitch Mollring, a former Ralston assistant principal who is the new middle school principal.

Duane Krusemark, the elementary school’s principal, directed students off buses to elementary and high school classes in Valley and onto buses headed for middle school in Waterloo.

"This is like any other first day of school, but still a little bit different," said Krusemark, a Valley administrator for 10 years.

Interim Superintendent Robert Albers, a veteran educator who recently moved to Nebraska from El Dorado, Kan., was right at home, leading elementary students by the hand to their classrooms.

"We want everyone to know they are welcome here, and we are glad they are here," Albers said of the 725 students arriving for opening day.

Five-year-old Alex Watson had been waiting all summer to start kindergarten. Wearing a Spiderman and Superman T-shirt, he walked to school with his parents, Angie and Joshua Watson of Valley, and 1- year-old sister, Lillian, in her stroller.

"Today has been easier for Alex than for mom," Joshua Watson said.

The transition was a bit tougher for high school students, who before this year attended separate schools in Waterloo and Valley.

"It’s like walking into a new place where you have always been," said senior Micah Speights of Valley.