Pencils Ready

On Monday morning, students in crisp new polo shirts filed into their elementary school classrooms, the dust of any summer construction projects having been swept away, meals that included salad and fresh melon waiting, technology functioning on cue (though schools may wait for scheduling shifts to really settle out before sending kids home with supplies from Chromebooks to guitars). Even the air conditioning worked almost seamlessly. It was, by all accounts, one of the smoothest welcome mats the Santa Fe Public Schools have been able to roll out for its students lately.

It doesn't mean the job ahead is easy: parents and students are still negotiating a new bus system that led to some headaches; there were, as usual, last minute registrations that left some parents and students spending the first hours of their morning in offices wrangling paperwork; and a surprising number of students showed up in need of individualized education plans or special education services.

But Santa Fe schools have, at least, seemed to start the year off in a way that sets the months to follow up to be successful, the little logistics having paved the way to spend another year chipping away at bigger goals like increasing proficiency in math and reading. At Ramirez Thomas Elementary, that means gearing up for an increasingly rigorous mathematics curriculum. At Ortiz Middle School, they're incorporating more team-building activities to develop a sense of belonging.

"When you have a bad start, you're behind the eight ball all year," Superintendent Joel Boyd tells SFR. That delay ends up costing instructional time. "This first week of school is a barometer for things to come all year. So far, it looks good."

Boyd visited 14 schools on Monday, checking on teachers and principals to ask if anyone needed anything and introducing himself to classes. Most schools reported all students in class, scheduling questions and last minute registrations mostly resolved, by 8:30 am or 9 am. Santa Fe High School, which had seen its library wrapped in a line of 200 students waiting for schedules on the first day last year, had everyone indoors by 9 am.

In all those schools and at least 50 classrooms, Boyd said during his evening debrief meeting with district staff, the overwhelming majority of teachers had jumped immediately into the material and were setting a routine for learning in their classrooms.

"That's a real win for our students," he said.

With the opening of eighth grade classrooms at Nina Otero Community School and El Camino Real Academy, those two schools saw enrollment up and class sizes increasing, while Gonzales and Aspen saw a corresponding decease in numbers, at least on the first day. Staff will take the week, including the start of kindergarten classes on Wednesday, to watch enrollment before making major adjustments. Enrollment at Ortiz is also down so far. The district expected to see about 1 percent growth this year, and to absorb some of the students from the recently closed Santa Fe Christian Academy.

The district had an unprecedented low number of vacancies, with only three teaching positions open and an offer out for one of those three. Albeit many of those teachers accepted jobs in the last two weeks. Two of the openings were for special education teachers at Aspen Community School, which survived its first day without a principal at the helm as last year's principal is out on medical leave, prompting a last minute search for a replacement. Boyd and Aspen staff are still meeting with finalists.

If there was an area that suffered, it was in buses, where David Perez, director of the district's transportation department, saw his phone ringing constantly with calls from parents frustrated or confused by a new system. Students are now registered for bus service based on their home address for their school registration, and the change fueled some growing pains and a day-long shuffle to try to get new bus passes into the right kids' hands. He estimated he processed about 100 instances in which the address had not been accurately read by the system and needed to be manually corrected. His primary need at the moment, he said, was patience from parents and staff while they worked to get bus passes to all students.

Santa Fe Reporter