First Day of School for Chatham Students

Chatham students returned to school Tuesday for the start of another year.

had a moderator directing traffic. Though cars were backed up along Lafayette Avenue, traffic within the parking lot was limited to faculty and students with parking tags. Parents dropping off their kids were directed to the driveway at the school's entrance, which has two drop-off points at entries to the school.

"We're hoping parents get used to the new system and follow the directions," said Principal Darren Groh.

The expansion of the high school parking lot is still under construction. Interim Superintendent Dennis Fyffe previously said it should be completed within two weeks.

Numerous fourth graders and their parents walked to Tuesday morning for the first day of school. Students split up by grade level for the orientation, which was moved from the front blacktop to the cafeteria for fourth graders and from the back playground to the gym for fifth graders due to the rain.

At , the usual gathering of students and families was moved indoors because of the rain. Glenn Deter, the head custodian at Southern Boulevard, said, "Normally it's up on the blacktop, it's a very festive attitude out there."

Rich Berger, father of a third grade student at Southern, said while the school's atmosphere "is very positive with the kids coming back," traffic approaching the school was "pretty bad all around town, and the rain didn't help."

The rain held out for students Tuesday morning. Students convened outside the school doors talking to their friends while waiting to be let inside.

Most students walked to school with their friends or rode their bikes. Parents who dropped their children off at school stayed inside their cars.

The bridge leading into Chatham Middle School at the Van Doren Avenue entrance was open after during Hurricane Irene. A line of cars up and down Van Doren Avenue moved steadily, but slowly, into the school.

At , almost every student was accompanied by a parent for the first day of school. Parents parked their cars on the streets surrounding the school and walked their children to the door. The rain intensified as students approached, and students had an indoor lineup, but many parents took pictures of their children under umbrellas outside the school.

Many families said they have been looking forward to the new school year. Newcomers to Chatham, Jules Duffy and her 8-year-old son, Max, anticipated Max’s first day of school in the Chatham School system. “We were all very excited last night when we went to sleep,” Duffy said.

For some parents, however, the new school year brings a mixture of emotions from nervousness to excitement to even sadness. Nancy and David Andreasen brought their daughter Megan to her first day of first grade this morning at Milton Avenue. “It will be weird to have an empty house, but we are very excited,” Nancy explained.

The family said they had everything ready the night before and “[Megan] was up early, she did all her [school] stuff and [this morning] she was ready to go,” Nancy said.

What did your family do for the first day of school? Send in your stories—and photos—to Chatham Patch!