Better late than never

Marisa O’Neil

Despite opening a week later than other district schools because of

construction delays, students and teachers at Harbor View Elementary

in Corona del Mar still needed a little flexibility when classes

started Monday.

On Tuesday afternoon, the front entrance to the school appeared

clean, with newly-laid concrete steps, orange cones to direct traffic

and balloons placed on welcome signs. Potted plants with purple,

yellow and white flowers lined a patch of dirt in front of the

school.

Green safety fences lined the walkway that bisects the campus,

blocking off construction areas from the rest of the school. Eight

classes continue in portable rooms, two are still in old rooms and

the rest are in refurbished areas.

Measure A-funded construction continues in closed-off areas.

“It went really well,” Harbor View Principal Mellissia Christensen

said of their first day. “The Measure A people made the extra effort,

providing plants out front, making it more festive. People didn’t pay

much attention to all the dirt.”

As of Friday last week, teachers were just starting to get their

classrooms prepared and were not sure if they would have phones,

fully-functioning electricity or other amenities when classes started

Monday. Most were up and running just in time.

“It’s a safe, secure, easily accessible site,” Newport-Mesa

Unified School District Spokesperson Jane Garland said Tuesday.

“Probably the easiest we’ve had so far. We’ve had no complaints.”

She said they expect construction to finish in mid-December.

But the first days have not gone without a hitch. Tuesday morning,

workers accidentally cut phone lines to two rooms. Most rooms do not

have bulletin boards yet. Teachers agreed that they have had to be

flexible to deal with the inconveniences.

“The kids have adapted brilliantly,” Christensen said. “They’re so

resilient. I think it’s bothered the adults more than [it’s bothered]

them.”

For the time being, a store-bought air horn replaces the school

bells, and portable toilets stand in for boys’ and girls’ bathrooms.

Teachers provided a potty primer so students knew how to flush and

how to not get locked inside.

“The kids don’t mind,” first-grade teacher Wendy Jawor said. “They

think it’s fun. But there’s a moment where you can’t believe you’re

teaching kids how to use a Porta-Potty.”

Christensen said that the teachers and parents have helped make

for a relatively smooth start to the year, providing clocks, bottled

water and photocopies of handouts. When construction removed large

shade trees next to the lunch area, the Parent Faculty Organization

had temporary shade canopies brought in. Permanent ones are in the

works.

Harbor View hit construction delays when workers found worse

damage than anticipated, and the bidding process took longer than

expected. That meant teachers only had a few days to set things up

for the nearly 500 students at the school.

“All the tough construction is done,” Garland said. “Now we’re

going classroom to classroom.”