First Day of School Goes Smooth for Most

The first day of school can be a daunting experience, with new routines and many things to remember. Just ask 5-year-old Thomas Cornett, who started his first day of kindergarten at Middle Gate School.

Clad in plaid shorts and navy polo shirt, he fiddled with the bus tag hanging around his neck, a paper bus cutout on a ribbon designed to get him on the right bus at the right time.

With everything else he had on his mind, he wasn't in the mood for answering questions. Luckily, chatty older sister and incoming 2nd grader Olivia had his back.

"Thomas has Mrs. LaBonia this year," Olivia said. "That's who I had for kindergarten."

Some added prompting from parents, Catherine and David Cornett, yielded a little more from Thomas.

"I packed my own snack today — a fruit roll-up," he said proudly, his face breaking into a dimpled smile before the information floodgates closed again, this time after a caterpillar inching up the sidewalk caught his attention.

Seven-year-old Olivia was happy to fill the void.

"I like to write so I hope we do some writing on our white boards," she said. "I have some new Expo markers in tropical colors."

As the bus pickup time neared, neighbor Coleen Mahar and her three children joined the Cornetts at the bus stop.

Yankees fan and incoming first-grader Kyle, 6, displayed an impressive Silly Bandz collection hooked to his backpack and a precariously dangling loose tooth.

"If your tooth falls out at school, put it in your pocket, " Mahar advised Kyle.

The accustomed pickup time came and went and the children peered anxiously up the street. The sound of a rumbling engine up the street set the children to wiggling until a refuse truck drove into view, causing shoulders to slump.

Seven minutes later, Bus 22 piloted by Janice Paynter pulled up, and the children shouted goodbyes as they boarded.

Buses full of children pulling up to Head O' Meadow School had a welcome committee in physical education teacher Steven Dreger, lead teacher Jennifer Meyers and new principal Barbara Gasparine.

Motioning the children into a cluster, Gasparine introduced herself.

"You can call me Mrs. G," she said. "We're going to have a lot of fun this year."

Over at Hawley School, the elementary school with the earliest start time, the day's routines were well underway. Lead teacher Chris Breyan instructed children in safely crossing the parking lot as they prepared to return to their classrooms following recess.

"It's been a great morning," Breyan said. "The drop-off went smooth and the kids are excited. Our new café is all set and ready to go thanks to hard work from (art teacher) Mrs. Valerie Sheskin and the PTA."

Smooth seemed to be the word of the day for a group of Newtown bus drivers taking refuge from the 90-degree heat under the covered entryway into Newtown High School.

"The radio was really quiet today," Bus 18 driver Paul Miles said. "The hardest thing was getting in and out of the parking lot here with all the construction."

The construction activity also was on the mind of some Newtown High School students . Sixteen-year-old senior Travis LeBlanc described his day as "long and crowded."

"We couldn't sit in the lobby because of all the construction — we had to sit in the café," Travis said.

Lunch also was frustrating for student Andrew Argraves.

"I got stuck in the lunch line and because it was so long and moved so slow, I was late to class," he said.

Seventeen-year-old seniors Lauren Pettinelli and Courtney Amaral rated the day more positively.

Both girls praised the new stairwell cleared for use just Tuesday, pronouncing it "nice and really big and easy to pass through."