ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, August 27, 1996 TAG: 9608270088
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JOEL TURNER STAFF WRITER
Sixth-grader Brandon Mullins entered a new world Monday when he crossed the ball field.
"It's a new school, it's big and it's confusing because I don't know which way to go," Mullins said. "But it's neat going into middle school. Now I've got a locker."
He was one of the first students to arrive at the new $3.1 million Glenvar Middle School on Monday when Roanoke County schools opened for a new school year.
For Mullins, there was the excitement of new teachers, a new principal, moving up a grade into middle school - and a new school building.
The school for sixth-, seventh- and eighth-graders in the western part of the county is across the ball field from Glenvar Elementary, from which Mullins and other students watched the construction during the past year.
The long wait for the new school ended shortly before 8 a.m. when more than 300 students began arriving for the new school year.
"It's bigger than my other school and it's new," said Haley Akers, a sixth-grader who attended the aged Fort Lewis Elementary last year. "I was anxious to get back this year because of the new school and going to middle school."
In Roanoke County, 13,647 children returned to classes Monday - the first time in several years that some Roanoke Valley schools have opened before Labor Day. Salem schools also opened, with a first-day enrollment of 3,752.
Roanoke and Botetourt County schools will open next Tuesday.
Despite the pre-Labor Day opening, attendance was higher than anticipated in both Roanoke County and Salem. The county's enrollment had been projected at 13,771.
"Our feeling was that more people would be on vacation or not in school for the first day for other reasons," said Marty Robison, assistant superintendent for Roanoke County.
"All in all, we had a very successful opening day," Robison said.
Superintendent Wayne Tripp said there were a "few glitches" in Salem on opening day, including a couple of bus breakdowns. Several children were left at one school in the afternoon because they didn't hear the public address system about a bus departure, but teachers took them home, he said.
Tripp said Salem's opening-day attendance was 27 higher than last year. He expects to pick up another 125 students by next week.
Workers put finishing touches on the new Glenvar Middle School on opening day, but the students can't use their new lockers for a few days. The school is waiting for combination locks.
Principal Michael Crowder said he hoped the locks will arrive this week. "The company sent lockers with keys, but we wanted combination locks. Lockers with keys just won't work with students."
The new middle school is attached to Glenvar High, which housed grades 7 through 12 in the past. The schools will share a cafeteria and library.
This year, seventh- and eighth-graders have been moved from the high school over to the new middle school, leaving the high school with grades nine through 12.
The students seemed unaware of the debate over funding for equipment and furniture for the middle school. The defeated school bond issue last spring included $600,000 for equipment and furnishings for the school. But the Board of Supervisors agreed to provide only $300,000 after the bonds were rejected.
Glenvar parents were angered by the board's decision, and county school officials said they would have to reduce instructional equipment for the school.
But Crowder, who was assistant principal at William Byrd Middle School last year, said school administrators tried to provide all of the needed equipment without mentioning the cost.
"I don't know what I didn't get [because of the funding reduction]," he said. "We got almost everything that we needed."
Before classes began at 8:30, many students explored the new building and checked out the location of their lockers.
The building had the smell of new construction and new paint.
"It's really cool," said Ryne Mueller, a sixth-grader. "It's going to be a lot different than elementary school. You have to switch classes, and it'll be like a new experience."
Jessica Gearheart, an eighth-grader who moved over from the high school to the middle school, didn't seem to mind the switch.
"I like the new building. The classrooms are nicer," she said.
Nicholas Hyman, a sixth-grader, checked out his locker early Monday morning. It's just down the hall from his home room.
The teachers had decorated their rooms and bulletin boards.
Traci Pollard, a sixth-grade language arts teacher, had neatly placed a copy of the school's new student-parent handbook, along with other forms and handouts, on each desk in her home room.
"The facilities are nice," said Pollard, who taught at Penn Forest Elementary School last year.
Jennifer Paplomatas, a social studies teacher, was excited about her first day as a teacher in a new school as she hurried to her home room.
Sixth-grader Melissa Wimmer said the new building was neat, too, but she wasn't eager to return to school from summer vacation.
At Oak Grove Elementary in Southwest Roanoke County, 80 kindergartners wore name tags and neck tags on opening day so teachers could keep them straight and make sure they got on the correct bus.
The kindergartners and all other new students had visited Oak Grove last week for an orientation session.
It's a practice in most schools because the first day can be a challenge for kindergartners. Some 5-year-olds momentarily forget their last names and some don't know the correct spelling.
But most of the youngsters seemed to be enjoying opening day and not worrying about their names or buses.
"We learned about coloring and cleaning up the room," said 5-year-old Kyle Allen as he finished his lunch.
"It's gone very smooth so far," said Principal Mary Carswell as she talked with kindergarten teachers in the cafeteria.
"We've had no tears by the kindergartners, but there were maybe tears by some parents," she said.
Kindergarten teacher Sandy Gould said the first day is mainly devoted to getting the 5-year-olds acclimated to school.
Early in the day, the teachers walked the boys and girls through the cafeteria serving line and showed them where to get food and how to take their trays to the tables.
"We walk them through the day, step-by-step, and get them used to things," Gould said.
The kindergartners and all other new students had visited Oak Grove last week for an orientation session.
"It's amazing how quickly they catch on," Carswell said, as she watched the kindergartners carry their trays in single file to the front of the cafeteria and empty their trash.
LENGTH: Long : 127 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: PHILIP HOLMAN/Staff. 1. As Glenvar Middle Schoolby CNBeighth-graders Josh Bishop and Staci Gladden hang a "welcome back"
poster, Morgan Tonn watches students passing in the corridor below.
color. 2. Glenvar Middle School sixth-grader Whitney Crouse gets
help with her class schedule from teacher Traci Pollard.