As school bus 430 rolled to a stop at Waterloo Elementary School Monday morning, the three Krein children huddled at the window, toothy smiles plastered across their faces.

Waiting outside, camera in hand, was mom.

“I’m one of those moms who followed the school bus,” admitted Maureen Krein, of Ellicott City, as she watched kindergartner Amber, second-grader Teresa and fourth-grader Tyler step off the bus. “I had to get that picture. She’s my third child — you’d think I’d be over it by now.”

Similar scenes played out at schools across the county as 49,138 students resumed their studies at Howard’s 72 public schools. As if on cue, brisk fall air greeted students as they returned to school on the last day of August.

“I think we’re pretty lucky as educators that every year we get a new start,” Waterloo principal Sue Webster said. “I love the first day.”

Outside Waterloo, a line of children and parents wound around the side of the school building waiting for the doors to open. Five-year-old Michael Cook clung to his mother’s leg as they waited to enter the school building where he would begin kindergarten.
 
Nearby and also experiencing a case of first-day jitters was Leo Montgomery, a 10-year-old fifth-grader.

“I’m nervous,” he said. “I’ve never been to the fifth-grade pod before.”

Mom Jennifer Montgomery had a different take.

“I’m excited. I was ready for him to go back a month ago,” she said with a laugh. “I was getting jealous. They were sleeping until 10:30 or 11 every day.”

New look

Once inside, students and parents navigated the school’s refurbished halls.

At the dawn of its 45th year, the school got a facelift. An $8.9-million renovation, completed over the past two summers, updated the school’s major electrical and HVAC systems, reconfigured the building’s interior, including enclosing open-style classrooms and adding a vestibule entrance, swapped a rubberized gym floor for a wood one, and provided fresh tile and paint through much of the building.

Kindergarten teacher Erin Sloan, in her 11th year at Waterloo, said she enjoyed “the newness of it all” — from the wipe-off boards, to cabinet space to LCD projectors. “Waterloo was an older school,” she said. “It’s nice to have new stuff.”

The renovation also provided rooms designed for the needs of special programs like the Regional Early Childhood Center and programs for children with emotional disturbances.

“Those programs were just placed in the building and you made do with the space you had,” Webster said. “But with a renovation, there’s the opportunity to really tailor the space to the needs of the program.”

New theme

Across the county, in North Laurel, a very different kind of first day was being conducted at High Ridge Park.

Nearly 400 freshmen filled the park, participating the team-building activities focused on the theme of respect.

“We’ve never, ever done the traditional first day with class, rules and regulations, filling out the forms, all that,” Reservoir High School principal Addie Kaufman said. “It almost puts a damper on the level of enthusiasm.”

Instead, Kaufman and her staff members attempt to ignite and harness students’ excitement in hopes it will translate into a successful school year, she said.

Each year, Reservoir’s first day includes alternative activities for all students centered on a theme, and groups of students are selected for community-building retreats prior to the beginning of school.

For the first time this August, school leaders decided to involve the entire freshman class in the community-building exercises and to stage the activities at High Ridge Park, in North Laurel.

“It’s a way to unify and build bridges and get to know each other,” counselor Linda Packman said of the activities. “We’ve really gotten a lot out of it, as a way to build relationships between teachers and students and among students.”

At one side of the park, groups of students raced to pass a wet sponge down the line, attempting to retain as much water in their team’s sponge as possible.

Nearby, small groups shared their thoughts on topics ranging from being a leader vs. a follower, to cheating, to characteristics of a good friend.

The small groups will become students’ “advisory groups” that will continue to meet weekly with the same staff member for the duration of the students’ high school career.

New relationships

“We’re starting building those relationships from the get-go,” Packman said.

At the park, goal-setting was a topic discussed by Packman’s group, which included an aspiring chef, forensic investigator, teacher and psychiatrist.

“The cool thing about high school is you can try out a lot of different things and see what you like,” Packman told the students.

The park also served as a mixing bowl for students from different middle schools.

Former Murray Hill Middle School classmates Jasmine Patterson and Phi Nguyen said they were happy to be spending time outside rather than inside the school building.

“It’s fun,” Nguyen said. “I’m getting to know a lot of people, unlike class which can be boring sometimes.”

Olivia Parzow snagged a seat at a picnic table with fellow Lime Kiln Middle grads, some of the few she said she knew coming into the day, while Timmy Usher and Michael Malcolm, of Hammond Middle School, stuck together as well.

“It’s a great way to spend the first day,” Usher said. “It’s a good way to learn everyone’s name. Also, it’s interesting because you see some people you haven’t seen since elementary school.”

New school year by the numbers

* 72 public schools

* 49,138 students

* 4,563 teachers

* $656.7 million operating budget

* $13,320 per pupil expenditure

* 215 newly hired teachers

* 25 percent of new hires are graduates of county schools

* 41 is average age of county teachers

* 61 percent of teachers hold a master's degree or above

* 12.4 average years of teaching experience of county teachers

While you were away

During the 10 weeks of summer vacation:

* Renovations and additions were completed at: Glenelg High School, Clemens Crossing Elementary, Elkridge Elementary, Waterloo Elementary;

* Kindergarten additions were built at: Bellows Spring Elementary, Deep Run Elementary, Forest Ridge Elementary Hollifield Station Elementary, St. John's Lane Elementary;

* Renovation work is in progress at: Northfield Elementary School, Clarksville Middle School, Mt. Hebron High School.

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