BRHS Celebrates New School Year With Laid-Back First Day

At 12 p.m. on the dot, the doors of the Bridgewater-Raritan High School swung open and hordes of students paraded outside to catch buses, file into waiting cars and head to their own vehicles in the parking lot as their first day of school came to an end Wednesday.

"The day was very fast-paced and laid back," said senior Dean Mauro as he walked down the path toward his car parked near Basilone Field. "We went through our schedules."

Both Dean and senior Henry Chen said it was not difficult to get back into the daily grind of school, mainly because they had just recently completed their summer assignments anyway.

"I did my summer work in the last two days, so it was easy to get readjusted," Henry said. "It wasn't weird."

"I did all my work in the last couple weeks, so I was already in that mode," Dean agreed. "It was not difficult to get back into school."

The first day, though only four hours long, was designed in such a way to give students a feel for how the school day will normally go, while also taking care of administrative tasks, Bridgewater-Raritan High School Principal James Riccobono said. Students had an extended 40-minute homeroom, followed by the opportunity to run through their entire schedules through 20-minute periods.

And with the school's largest opening enrollment to date—with 2,960 students—Riccobono said the staff was able to accomplish its three objectives, namely getting everyone into the proper homeroom; issuing lockers and combinations; and collecting a mandatory weapons awareness agreement, which outlines what is considered a weapon by the school.

"The kids came in, and they responded well," he said. "I think they will have a good handle on their classes come Friday."

Students will be off from school Thursday in celebration of Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, and will return on Friday, when Riccobono said they will still have a 20-minute extended homeroom—normally it lasts for only four minutes between first and second periods—and close-to-normal-timed classes.

"That will be in case anyone missed the first day, and to get the buses to have the routes down," he said. "Starting Monday, we will go with a regular schedule."

Riccobono has said he does not believe the day off at the beginning of the year will be an issue, and many teachers agreed.

"I think everyone is grateful to have Thursday off," said art teacher Deborah Huff. "It takes a long time to set up, and get everything ready. There was a shortened day today, so there is extra time."

Advanced placement environmental science teacher Eugene Pirog agreed that the extra day off in the week gives both teachers and students the opportunity to ease back into the school year.

"We get a day to relax, and then we come back," he said. "I think it makes it easier."

But one teacher said it is a little difficult to start and stop classes like this.

"It is difficult for teachers because it is a stutter start," said math teacher Steve Kane. "We will get all the administrative stuff done on Friday. Everyone will be teaching for real on Monday."

Senior Laura Davidson said it will be a little strange to be off for one day, then come back right before the weekend, but she is ready to get started with the year anyway.

"It is good to get back into the swing of things," she said.

Still, both teachers and students said they are looking forward to a good year.

Laura said she particularly enjoyed seeing her friends again, and getting back into the swing of classes once more.

"It is refreshing, and nice to have some structure again," she said.

Senior Pooja Nair said she is happy to be back, but nervous because she knows this is her last year at the district schools.

"Since it's my last year, it's the last time for a first day of school here," she said. "I'm never going to see these people again."

"Well, aside from the rest of this year," she added with a laugh.

But both Laura and Pooja said they are looking forward to all that senior year has to bring, including college applications, prom and, of course, graduation.

"The anxiety about starting up at school is gone," Pooja said.

For several of the teachers, the first day was a great success, and everything ran as smoothly as it could, considering all the administrative work that had to be completed.

"It was terrific, and no one fell asleep," Huff said. "I thought everyone was happy to be back. But the first day is usually quiet because the students are checking us out."

Pirog said students come into the school excited to get going, but, by the end of the day, they are usually more worn out.

"And they want to talk to their friends, so I have to keep talking to keep them focused," he said. "Once I stop talking, they start."

Huff said the only negative hanging over the heads of the teachers are some changes in affect from the budget cuts that hit the district for this school year. She said she lost several classes, namely advanced placement art history, and sculpture and design electives.

The art history class, Huff said, was especially difficult to lose because there were several students who were very excited about the opportunity. She said she was upset about it at the end of last year, but it was time to "get over it and move on."

"They had to sign up for other classes last minute," she said. "They're going to be shifting around, so I believe the counselors will be busy over the next few weeks. But I think there is more than enough for everyone to choose from."

The biggest change Kane said he is noticing is the increase in class sizes. Last year, he said, his numbers were in the low 20s, and now he is looking at classes of close to 30 students.

"But we'll see how it goes," he said. "Fortunately, the math department didn't lose any teachers."

And for Laura, who is a member of the marching band, she is particularly disappointed that she now has to pay to participate in certain activities.

"Especially for some groups where we already have to pay for things, now we have to pay more," she said.

The only real hiccup in the day, Riccobono said, was bus dismissal, when some buses arrived late, and traffic backed up to Garretson Road. He said each bus is assigned a specific location in the front of the school, and all 41 buses end up double parked to pick up the students.

But if a bus closer to the entrance of the school arrives earlier than one parked more in the middle, there is no room for it turn into the school because of the two double parked buses.

"The first four buses near the entrance stopped, and others were a minute or two late, so they couldn't get through the line because the other buses were double parked," Riccobono said. "So if a bus is not there, we tell the kids to stand in the spot where the bus is supposed to be."

Traffic ended up backing up onto Garretson Road, and some buses were routed into the golf club across the street so traffic could continue while other buses picked up students.

Usually, Riccobono said, bus dismissal takes about eight minutes. At the end of the first day, he said, it took about 30 minutes.

"The buses were all there, it was just a timing issue," he said, adding that the buses are scheduled to arrive about one minute after each other, so they can all easily come into their spots.

"Sometimes a bus does get behind because of traffic," he said. "We had two youth officers guiding traffic today."

But for the most part, the first day of school at Bridgewater-Raritan High School was a success.

"It was fun," Pooja said. "I'm excited about the coming year."