First Day of School - Two Days Late

Students, parents, teachers and administrators were in good spirits Wednesday morning as all four schools in town celebrated the first day of class.

“I am glad to start on a positive note,” Superintendent of Schools Jeffrey A. Villar said.  “It has gone wonderful.”

Villar, who visited all the schools Wednesday, said the last few days “were a wild ride,” but he is ready to start the school year. 

because of excessive power outages caused by Hurricane Irene. The two days are expected to be added to the end of the school year. 

Administrators want to continue the initiatives they started four years ago, which include a “solid, rigorous curriculum” and “more technology in the classroom,” Villar said. The push is to make the technology in the classroom similar to what is in the work environment.

 Principal Rick Watson enjoyed the two extra days to prepare for the start of school. 

"We are ready to go," he said. 

“I just want to get going,”  Principal Mario Almeida said as he greeted his students.

An assembly was held to present a new “code of conduct" to all the high school students. Last year, a group of students approached Almeida and asked to make a video to demonstrate proper behavior for students in the schools.

The “code of conduct” is called ROCK, which stands for respect, organization, compassion and knowledge. The 15-minute video showed different scenarios where children and teachers interact throughout the school.

Spencer Stahl was pulling his mother, Denise, as he ran toward .

“He’s all excited,” she said.