By ESTHER K. SMITH
News staff writer
September 12, 2007

The 2007-08 school year has started out very well, according to local principals and school officials.

“It’s gone very smoothly,” said Mid Valley Elementary School’s Dennis McCauley, “Thanks to lots of good preparation by teachers and staff; and the kids came eager to learn. How quickly they slide back into the routine!”

Westside Elementary’s Dan Patton said that things have gone much more smoothly than last year, when the school had an added influx of about 80 children from various other schools to form the new dual language charter school.

“This year we did have a major change in the way we handle lunchtime,” he said. “We used to feed the kids first and then send them outside to play, and now we let them play first and then come eat.

“Now they come in hungrier and eat better — they used to tend to dump their food in order to get outside sooner. We also have fewer behavioral issues during lunch.”

Kindergarteners are still being fed first, he said, because they are still figuring out the system and take longer to eat.

Parkdale has also had an “excellent” start to the year, said Principal Kim Vogel.

“All the students have shown up, all classes are on their way and we’ve had our first assembly — we’re taking a ‘RRSK’ this year.” The acronym stands for Respectful, Responsible, Safe and Kind.

“When you’re a mountaineer and you’re taking risks, they have to be responsible, safe ones,” she said. “And you need to be respectful and kind to your mountaineering team. We are mountaineers, so we need to ‘Take a RRSK.’”

For Horizon Christian School, this new school year has been an especially nice one thanks to its new school building, said Administrator Chris Herring.