Opening Day of School in Huntington
With the two-month long summer vacation officially over, students, faculty and staff headed back to classrooms this week and Huntington School District officials said everything is in place for what they hope will be an exceptional year.
“The summer has been a busy time, as we have completed a long list of capital projects spanning each of our eight buildings, hired several dozen new teachers and support staff members and logged in hundreds of boxes of new equipment and supplies,” Superintendent John J. Finello said.
The new teachers participated in orientation activities last week that were designed to help them get off to a fast start in their positions. Teachers were required to report to their buildings on Tuesday for meetings, but most started arriving days in advance to review class lists, arrange classrooms, organize books and lesson plans and meet with colleagues.
“All of us are excited to begin a new school year,” said Mr. Finello, who will be retiring in June 2010. “The community can be assured that its young people will be provided with an exceptional education in all of our buildings. Our faculty, para-professionals, club advisors and coaches are really enthusiastic and anxious to start working with their students.”
The buildings and grounds department raced to put the finishing touches on their summer work, polishing hallway floors, delivering boxes of supplies to classrooms, prepping the grounds and setting up cafeteria tables so they are ready to accommodate an influx of about 4,500 students.
Bus drivers made dry runs through their routes in an effort to spot any potential problems. As is always the case, the district expects there will be some snafus with bus pick-ups and drop-offs. “We’ve worked hard to eliminate potential problems in advance,” Assistant Superintendent Joseph Giani said. “Parents should call us right away at 673-2032 to report any difficulties.”
Sports teams at Huntington High School have been practicing for more than a week. Teams at Finley will kick-off this week. Nurses quickly organized their offices and already started fielding phone calls from parents. Principals have been keeping tabs on last minute changes to the list of students enrolled in their respective building.
“The kids have a way of quickly adapting to the start of classes,” Mr. Finello said. “We’ll all work hard to make sure our students have a great experience this year.”
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