Students get sunny start for resumption of most Ashtabula County schools

From staff reports
Star Beacon

August 26, 2008 07:31 pm

— Mild temperatures gave students and staff a sunny start Tuesday as schools in Ashtabula, Buckeye, Conneaut, Geneva, Grand Valley and Jefferson school districts kicked off the new school year.
Throughout the weekend, temperatures soared to 90 with high humidity but cooled off just in time for the start of classes.
“It was perfect weather for school,” said Patrick Colucci, assistant superintendent for Ashtabula Area City Schools. “Teachers and staff were prepared for today, so everything went very smooth. Everybody was all smiles.”
Mary Balmford, principal of Ridgeview Elementary, was busy greeting parents and students at the door Tuesday morning.
“Our goal today is to get everyone where they need to go and get into the swing of a routine,” Balmford said.
Ridgeview Elementary, located at 3456 Liberty St., is part of the Buckeye Area Local School District, which overall had a nice smooth opening day, said Nancy Williams, Buckeye superintendent.
“I am so excited about all the new students I will get to meet this year,” said Deb Collins, a learning disability tutor and guided-reading and language arts aide. “My heart is with the kids who have a hard time.”
Happy mom Lisa Haase escorted her two children into Ridgeview Elementary for their first day in second and sixth grades.
“The little one was very excited, but the older one is very nervous. It is nice to see them enter a new grade, but it was also nice having them home,” she said.
“Driven to Read” is the theme this year at Kingsville Elementary, located at 5875 Route 193, which will use car racing decorations, said Nick Orlando, school principal.
“It is always great to see the kids once again,” he said.
Tim Essig, principal of Pierpont Elementary, concurred with Orlando’s sentiments.
“We are having a wonderful day that includes 20 new students this year,” Essig said.
Mary Zappitelli, superintendent of Geneva Area City Schools, was very pleased with the first day in her district.
“I have been out to all the buildings, and we are in good shape; a great start,” she said.
At Grand Valley School District, more than 1,400 students returned to classes at the school campus in Orwell Village. The only exception was kindergarten age students, who will start Tuesday.
Superintendent William Nye said things went pretty good for the first day.
“We had a few transportation problems, nothing major,” Nye said. “There were a few kids not picked up at first, but parents called our bus garage to report what happened. Most of it dealt with a new child not on the list, but they were picked up by bus drivers.”
Several new staff members include an intervention specialist, multimedia course instructor and information technology coordinator Mark Brewster.
Nye said Brewster handles all the technology maintenance of the school’s computers, telephone system and the maintenance of the building’s heating, ventilation and air conditioning system.
The Conneaut Area City School District enjoyed a launch “as smooth as it could be,” said Superintendent Kent Houston. “There were very few problems,” he said.
This is Houston’s first year at the helm of the Conneaut district. He replaces Mary Zappitelli, who left this summer to accept an identical position in the Geneva district.
Houston spent the morning at Conneaut High School, where a new administrative staff is in place. Principal is Gordon Hitchcock, while Rita Maslovsky and Dawn Zappitelli serve as the school’s assistant principal and athletic administrator, respectively.
Custodians and maintenance crews put the school buildings in terrific shape, Houston said. “I’m excited to see kids in the building,” he said.
In Jefferson, only the junior and senior high school students had to report to class. Elementary school students start today.
Principal John Montanaro of the junior-senior high school, said the day was running smooth.
“It’s wonderful,” he said. “We couldn’t ask for anything more.”
The district has several new staff members and a new administrative team. This is Montanaro’s first year as principal, and former social studies teacher Rick Hoyson now serves as the school’s assistant principal.
“We’re very excited,” Montanaro said. “It’s our first year as a new administrative team.”
Montanaro said the incoming seventh-graders and freshmen were making smooth transitions and it was amazing to see the older students helping the younger ones.
“That’s what makes it so enjoyable to be around Jefferson,” he said. “I’ve seen 12th-graders helping seventh-graders get into their lockers.”
Montanaro said the one major goal for the new school year is that everyone learns something new every day. The school also would like to increase student attendance and continue to improve on the state report card.
The staff also will be working on a plan to transition into the new building next year.
“We’re looking forward to a good year,” Hoyson said.

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