Schools open smoothly

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School opened smoothly on Wednesday, despite temperatures that were in the high 90s.

At the high school you could say that students surfed into a gnarly new year!

According to Supt. Lou Obermeyer, “We had a wonderful first day of school! The high school opened with its traditional pep rally and Principal Ron McCowan entered on a surf board,” carried by four burly high school seniors.

“It was exciting to see all of the high school teachers, staff and students cheering in the gym as ASB Director Rob Gilster led the pep rally,” said Dr. Obermeyer.

At the Primary School, principal Patty Christopher welcomed students as they lined up on the blacktop ready to go with their teachers to their classrooms and students waved goodbye to parents.

Mrs. Christopher told The Roadrunner, “Valley Center Primary School enjoyed a very smooth day overall. We always have some kindergarten students who cry and more than a few parents that do too, but that's to be expected. Children seem happy to be in school and we love seeing their smiling faces back at the Bee School.”

Enrollment on the first day of school was 4,104 which is 112 below projected enrollment. The second day enrollment was 57 down from projections.

“However,” said Dr. Obermeyer, “enrollment usually increases daily until after Labor Day when enrollment levels off and we have a better idea of our enrollment will be for the year.

Surfer “dude” McCowan added that the pep rally “had an Hawaiian theme with the saying of aloha to summer and aloha to the school year.”

McCowan added, “In spite of the heat students were enthusiastic throughout the day. They spent the day meeting their teachers, learning the expectations in each of their new classes, and getting reacquainted with old friends.”

Wendy Heredia, elementary principal reported, “Our first day was wonderful in spite of the warm weather. We had many happy faces with big smiles eager to return to school. One of the highlights on the day was the new surface of our playground area. Our students enjoyed testing it out. We had a great start to what we know will be a great year!”

Shannon Hargrave at Lilac School reported: “Lilac Lizards had a fabulous first day. We had over five hundred beautiful smiling faces! We had a wonderful start for a wonderful school year.”

Jon Petersen, middle school principal, commented, “True to Valley Center tradition, the first day of school was about the hottest day of the year! Fortunately, the heat didn’t seem to bother the eight hundred and thirty two students who arrived with lots of enthusiasm. One sixth grader who raced past our assistant principal on his way home shouted, ‘This was the best first-day ever!”

The opening went smoothly without any serious issues. “We’re expecting another ten students to arrive in the next few days, which means our enrollment will be the same as last year. That kind of stability helps us develop a master schedule that best meets our students’ needs,” said Petersen.

He added that staff members notice that this year’s students seemed to be particularly respectful and kind. “Parents should be happy to know that their children are studying in a positive, safe environment that enables us to put all our efforts on academics. We’re very blessed to have one of the best middle schools in the county.”