By Joe Olenick
Lockport Union-Sun & Journal
BUFFALO —
For the first day of school, 10-year-old Carson Rehm made sure he had the right shirt on. Underneath the button-down shirt for his first day of fifth grade at Washington Hunt, Rehm wore his DeWitt Clinton T-shirt.
“He told me he wore it so it’d be close to his heart,” Carson’s mother, Judy said.
Lockport students began the 2010-11 school year with some changes Tuesday. Plenty of new students and teachers found themselves in new surroundings, after being relocated with the closing of two elementary schools.
Lockport district officials chose to close Clinton and John E. Pound Elementary schools this fall. The decision was made because of declining enrollment and a budget with a $7.9 million deficit, made up of a $4 million loss of state aid and rising costs.
While at the bus stop Tuesday, Carson noticed a fellow student wearing one of the handmade bracelets Rehm had made for the closing of the school in June. A few more kids were spotted wearing the bracelets throughout the day, Judy Rehm said. Some of Carson’s former classmates were wearing the bracelets at Anna Merritt Elementary.
“That was kind of neat that they remembered,” Judy Rehm said.
Now, Head Start of Niagara County leases the DeWitt Clinton building, while Lockport’s universal pre-kindergarten program and technology department have been moved to John Pound. Superintendent Terry A. Carbone said the transition is going smoothly, and, aside from a few minor busing glitches, Tuesday overall went well.
“Very well considering the number of changes Lockport is facing this year,” Carbone said.
Carbone credited everyone — from teachers to district personnel, to parents and the community — for making the transition work. Kids from DeWitt Clinton and John Pound for the most part were moved to Anna Merritt, Charles Upson and Roy B. Kelley elementary schools. Each school took on at least 100 more students.
“Everyone will make this a successful transition,” Carbone said. “We’re looking forward to the new relationships that will be built this year.”
To get the new students and teachers acclimated to their new schools, a
series of orientations was held at the schools during the summer. While the average class size increased to about 22 students a class, the elementary schools are still at about 90 percent occupancy, Carbone said. Moving the pre-kindergarten classes to John Pound helped free up space, she said.
Classrooms were moved around and layouts were changed to accommodate the new kids in the schools. Carbone toured some of the buildings Tuesday and was happy with what she saw.
“I’m very proud,” Carbone said. “Children were smiling, parents were smiling, teachers were smiling. It was a good day.”
Judy Rehm said Carson was nervous at first — Tuesday was his first day on a bus — but ended up enjoying the day when he saw one of his former teachers at DeWitt. His new classmates were friendly, the teacher was nice and the room has a SMART interactive whiteboard, Carson told his mother.
All three of Judy Rehm’s kids, Chelsea, Cameron and Carson; her husband, Doug; and her twin sister, Julie, all went through DeWitt Clinton.
“We’re a DeWitt Clinton family,” she said.
The getting-to-know-each other phase will continue, as all of Lockport’s schools will be holding open houses over the next few weeks. Dates and information can be found on the district website.
In addition to reducing the number of elementary schools to five, Lockport has another building seeing some change. The high school is currently undergoing a $23.5 million capital improvement project, meaning the campus is packed with construction vehicles and personnel in addition to kids.
But, save for some traffic congestion on Lincoln Avenue, everything went well on day one, Principal Frank Movalli said. Part of the project calls for improvements to both the Lincoln Avenue and Locust Street entrances, and the Locust side isn’t complete yet. So buses had to drop off and pick up kids in the new circle on the Lincoln Avenue, where parents drop off and pick up their kids.
But there is a plan. Movalli said the district is looking into whether lengthening the duration of the traffic signal on Lincoln, running east and west, would make a difference.
“We think could alleviate some of the congestion, but we’re looking into it,” Movalli said.
Most of the work scheduled for this year that is taking place inside of the building is complete. The sections being worked on, such as the auditorium or a classroom addition, are blocked off from the student population. And the construction didn’t seem to affect the incoming freshmen, as the new ninth-graders were invited to a tour of the high school Sept. 2.
People did have comments on the high school project, though, Movalli said.
“In general, people have had very positive things to say about the work that’s done already, especially the front of the building,” Movalli said.
The school districts of Barker, Royalton-Hartland and Wilson, as well as DeSales Catholic School, will begin their school year today.
Newfane and Starpoint schools also started Tuesday. Newfane interim Superintendent Christine Tibbetts said the first day went exceptionally well districtwide.
“It was as smooth as silk,” she said.
There is optimism that the 2010-11 school year will continue that way. At least that’s what Carson Rehm thinks.
“He told me it’s going to be a good year,” Judy Rehm said.
Contact reporter Joe Olenick at 439-9222, ext. 6241.
