North End Welcomes New Students, Principal

As kindergartener John Cicero raced down Stevens Avenue in Cedar Grove to his first day of school at the North End School, his father, also named John, struggled to keep up while he tried to shoot video of the day.

His father was not the only parent trying to keep up the delicate balancing act.

"His sister, who is in fourth grade, has been putting stories in his head about how fun it is,” said Cicero. “He is very excited to make new friends.”

Jake Sinski, another new kindergartener, was lucky to already know some of his classmates but was also looking forward to meeting some new friends, he said.

But students like Cicero and Sinski weren’t the only newcomers on the first day of school.

North End Principal Traci Dyer is also new to the school, having taken over after Dr. Lawrence Neugebauer's retirement last June.

In a letter to parents, Superintendent Dr. Gene Polles described Dyer as “extremely knowledgeable and experienced in elementary education.”

Dyer was the first to welcome students outside of the school with a “Good morning!” and a “Happy first day of school!”

“Right now my main priority is getting to know the community and to develop relationships with students and parents,” Dyer said.

This year there are 316 students enrolled at the school, including three kindergarten classes of about 23 students each.

“This morning was pretty calm, they were very excited to see who is in their class this year,” said one father who dropped off both a fourth and second grader at school.

“It's exciting and sad at the same time, you start to realize how fast it goes,” the parent said.