Clear of the dust

Deirdre Newman

While the first day of school is always exciting for kindergarteners,

there was a tinge more anticipation in Carrie Holland’s classroom at

Newport Heights Elementary School on Tuesday morning.

All the students were decked out in Hawaiian leis to help them

learn the name of fellow student Leilani Gutierrez, who was rendered

a quadriplegic in a car accident last year.

When principal Judith Chambers addressed the class to explain

Leilani’s situation, Leilani took the initiative to talk to her peers

herself. The poised, articulate 5-year-old talked about the

ventilator she uses to breath and what it’s like to be paralyzed.

“She’s a really strong, independent person,” said mom June

Gutierrez. “She doesn’t have a problem at all talking about her

accident.”

Leilani’s smooth transition exemplified the ease that the

Newport-Mesa Unified School District ushered in its first day of

school. The effortlessness was a marked contrast to the frenzied

activity that swirled around the seven campuses under construction in

the past few weeks.

These schools are the first in the district-wide facility

improvement program, funded by Measure A, to succumb to the drills

and jackhammers. Only Harbor View Elementary School in Newport Beach

fell victim to severe problems, which delayed its opening by four

days.

“The first day of school went extremely smoothly at all of our

sites and we’re expecting next Monday to open Harbor View as

expeditiously as it went today,” said Jane Garland, district

spokesperson. “The district staff was out at all the sites helping to

open them and we couldn’t be more pleased.”

At Whittier Elementary School in Costa Mesa, one of the seven

schools under construction, Principal Sharon Blakely characterized

the first day of school as the “best ever,” considering the

continuing construction.

“The construction people were appropriate and did their things,”

Blakely said, explaining that the construction area is fenced and

covered with a green tarp to keep it isolated from the student area.

Second-grade teacher Jennifer Lorenzo is already in a new

classroom. She said she is especially enamored of the 16 new shelves

tucked into the wall that enable her to stash away supplies that are

usually strewn all over the room.

“I think it’s nice to have a place for everything,” Lorenzo said.

“It doesn’t seem cluttered.”

Blakely gave credit to project manager Bruce Cox of McCarthy

Building Co. for helping facilitate the smooth opening.

“He is a remarkable communicator and that’s what it’s all about,”

Blakely said. “We are a team. That patience and one helping another

has extended through Measure A.”

Cox even pitched in to create some makeshift bathroom doors, using

rods and curtains, for the kindergarten rooms when they were not

installed on time.

At Newport Heights, which is also under construction, Principal

Judith Chambers was impressed with the sudden transformation.

“Looking at this campus in the last few weeks and now, it’s

fabulous,” Chambers said. “It exceeded our expectations. Everyone

worked together -- the teachers, the parents and the district.”

Sixth-grader David Malo, 11, said the first day was just like any

other.

“It went really well,” David said. “Everything was normal.”

* DEIRDRE NEWMAN covers Costa Mesa and may be reached at (949)

574-4221 or by e-mail at [email protected].