New Rochelle Students Return to Classes

NEW ROCHELLE, NY — Grade school students across New Rochelle, and freshmen at New Rochelle High School met their new teachers, found their desks and reunited with friends Wednesday morning as the 2017-18 school year began. Students such as Trinity Elementary School fourth grader Manav Kumar said they are ready to start a year of learning. "We get to study a lot," he said. "We learn math and reading and a lot of other things."

Opening day was also a new beginning for Trinity Assistant Principal Michael Hilderbrand, who served for the past eight years as a house principal at New Rochelle High School. (For more information on this and other neighborhood stories, subscribe to Patch to receive daily newsletters and breaking news alerts.)

He saw some similarities in the first day of classes for elementary and secondary students. "Everyone is excited and nervous and anticipating great things," Hilderbrand said.

At the same time, as an educator in an elementary school, he said, he will serve students in their more formative years. "We have such a beautiful opportunity to set the tone for these children. So our welcoming smiles and kind words create the open door for them to see school as a place where they can find success."

New Rochelle's school year began with elementary school children at seven schools attending a half day while in New Rochelle High School, ninth-graders reported for a full day. Middle-school students attended an orientation only. Over the next two days, more students will return for classes, with nearly 11,000 students in total due for a full day of classes on Friday.

Teachers wasted no time delving into their subject matter. By mid-morning, Jefferson Elementary School English language arts teacher Vicky Davis had read several pages of Alice in Wonderland to her fifth-grade students. She spoke with them about how they could tell it was not merely fiction, but fantasy.

"Think about The Secret Garden; you're going into a whole other world," she said. "Think about Journey to the Center of the Earth. You're going into a whole other world. That's the beauty of this."

One of Davis' students, Emma Dawson, said she also enjoys math and the lessons in Italian she takes at the school.

"Knowing another language is good because you can communicate with more people, and you learn more things," Dawson said.

At William B. Ward Elementary School, Assistant Principal Kimberly Peluso injected a little energy into the fourth and fifth graders gathered for an assembly. She felt their response to her "Good morning" was not quite enthusiastic enough.

"Oh, you can do better than that," she said.

"GOOD MORNING!" the students thundered.

Fifth grader Juliana Carello, who was in the assembly, said she was looking forward to a year of classes with innovative teachers.

"They teach you in cool ways — in different ways," she said. "It makes learning so much more fun.”

Photo caption: English language arts teacher Vicky Davis at Jefferson Elementary School discusses Alice in Wonderland with her fifth-grade students. Photo credit: NRED.org.