
DATE: Wednesday, September 3, 1997          TAG: 9709030478

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B1   EDITION: FINAL 

SERIES: Back to School 

SOURCE: STAFF REPORT 

                                            LENGTH:   95 lines

NEW SCHOOLS, AND A NEW YEAR, BRING MANY FIRSTS

They arrived by the thousands in a blaze of new clothes, a rainbow of backpacks and a spectrum of emotional states. And the facilities they entered were as diverse as their ranks.

In all, more than 177,000 South Hampton Roads students on Tuesday started the 1997-98 school year in schools that range from brand new to admittedly outdated. Four new local schools opened - Hugo A. Owens Middle and Hickory Middle in Chesapeake and Corporate Landing Middle and Christopher Farms Elementary in Virginia Beach. Suffolk reopened Oakland Elementary following a year of renovations. Many schools this year house students in different grades than they traditionally serve as systems struggle to accommodate growth.

On the first day of the first year at Owens Middle School, sixth-graders at lunch were filled with anticipation.

``After lunch we get to open our lockers,'' said sixth-grader Chris Cook, 11. Having a locker is just one of the many firsts for students at Owens, which is serving more than 950 students in grades six through eight who formerly attended four other Chesapeake schools. When asked what their impression of the school was, several just said, ``It's big.''

Sixth-grader Tiffany Ricks, 10, focused less on the newness of the building and more on the greater challenges of being a middle-school student. ``I'm looking forward to being more mature. It's like another level,'' Tiffany said.

Tiffany was also looking forward to that all-important locker, a symbol of freedom from the burden of books. Her enthusiasm was shared by Jamika Mullen, Antoinette Pele and Robin Mardenborough.

``My locker is going to be set up,'' said Jamika, adding that the bare essentials of a set-up locker are a mirror, a brush and a comb.

For students at Portsmouth's I.C. Norcom High, it was the last first day at the aging, red-brick school. Students will finish the school year at the new, state-of-the-art Norcom High on London Boulevard. The $38 million building is scheduled to be finished in November, and the students will begin attending classes there in January.

Students were filled with mixed feelings as they began a year that would span two schools, two eras.

``There's a lot of history here that we're going to be leaving behind,'' said junior Glenn Hazelwood, 16. ``But I'm looking forward to the new building.''

At least one of the old school's features, a round mosaic compass on the floor of the old building that students refer to as ``the heart of the school,'' will be reproduced at the new building. While some students were bemoaning the loss of the ``real heart'' Tuesday, others said it was only a symbol. ``If we feel this school is the best, it's not because of the building,'' said Abra Pace, a 17-year-old senior. ``It's not the heart on the floor or the pictures on the wall - it's what's inside of us.''

At Bowling Park Elementary in Norfolk, the hierarchy has changed. No longer do fifth-graders rule. This year there are three classes of sixth-graders and two classes of seventh-graders at Bowling Park.

Sixth-grader Ashley Brickhouse, 12, has already learned one advantage to being one of the big men, so to speak, on Bowling Park's campus.

While she'll still have to wear a uniform three times a week and attend classes segregated by gender, as an older student she'll have certain privileges.

``We don't have to walk in a straight line anymore,'' Ashley said.

Until just a few weeks ago, it looked like the Beach's Christopher Farms Elementary School wouldn't open on time. But open it did on Tuesday with just some landscaping to be completed and the library to be set up. Principal Don Clement said he and his staff worked Saturday, Sunday and Monday because they wanted the school to be ready for the students.

And judging from the number of times parents, students and staff used ``perfect'' and ``exciting'' to describe the city's newest elementary school, all that work was appreciated.

``We've been waiting for it. We're just so excited,'' said Mary Wolkomir, parent of a second-grader at Christopher Farms and a resident of the subdivision surrounding the school. ``Everybody knows everybody.''

Inside the school, the white walls still wore a ``never been touched'' sheen. Interspersed among the white and blue flecked floor tiles were occasional jewel-toned geometric patterns.

Five-year-old Brittany Adams said she was excited to be starting kindergarten at the new school `` 'cause we get to play.''

Her mother, April, was even more enthusiastic.

``I think it's going to be the best school in the city,'' she said. ``Everyone's so wonderful, and it's just gone so smoothly for the first day.'' MEMO: Staff writers Aleta Payne, Nancy Young, Elizabeth Simpson and

Lorraine Eaton contributed to this report. ILLUSTRATION: Photo

STEVE EARLEY/The Virginian-Pilot

Students wait to catch buses to other campuses on the hazy first

morning of school Tuesday at Green Run High School in Virginia

Beach.

Color Photo

STEVE EARLEY/The Virginian-Pilot

Principal Joe Ford applauds students arriving for the first day of

class Tuesday at Green Run High School in Virginia Beach. Faculty

members dressed in formal attire to welcome the students.