Teachers, students at new schools make first day work

It took seventh-grader Yianna Lekios all of about 30 seconds to decide the still under-construction Charles Silvestri Middle School was going to be fine. She then turned her attention to the usual first day of school problems of lunch periods, locker combinations and who she would sit next to in class.

Easing the worries about the Clark County School District's eight unfinished new schools was a goal for the schools' staffs on Monday.

"Our goal is to make this a normal first day for students," said Pamela Hawkins, principal at the new Irwin and Susan Molasky Middle School. "We can't stop the hammering that's going on, but the staff can work on forming the bonds that make a successful school."

Molasky, located in Northwest Las Vegas, was a hub of activity Monday as students moved from class to class while construction workers poured cement and worked on landscaping and copy machines and other supplies arrived.

Workers at Molasky and Silvestri, located in Southeast Las Vegas, raced around the clock over the weekend to get the schools ready for students.

A Thursday orientation had to be called off at Silvestri because building inspectors had not issued a certificate of occupancy for the school. So for parents and students, Monday morning was the first they saw of the school.

"It's a relief to see that the school is just about finished," said Sherri Lekios, Yianna's mother. "It's a really nice school and it has put my mind at ease about leaving my daughter here."

Parents of students at Manuel Cortez Elementary School may be wishing that their students had been attending Silvestri after Cortez was declared unfit for occupancy, and 675 students were bused to Eldorado High School Monday morning.

Cortez, a new school at 4245 E. Tonopah Ave., was closed at 9:30 a.m. so workers could finish 12 to 14 welds on stress bearing beams in the main building. The welding was completed and students were back at the school by approximately 2:30 p.m.

The safety of children was a key concern for parents as they arrived to the new schools. The fire alarms, plumbing and phone lines were all in working order at the new schools on Monday.

"Everything is new," said Silvestri Principal Christopher Erbe. "The schools, staffs and students are all new. It's like a new house and we need to make sure that all the plugs work."

Teachers ducked in and out of their classrooms on Monday carrying bulletin board material, books and other supplies as they finished setting up their new classrooms.

"The key is that you have to be flexible," said Sherry Chase, a third-grade history teacher at Silvestri. "Anything that is not ready is being finished as quickly as possible."

One of the things that is not finished at Silvestri are the sinks in sixth-grade science teacher Kim Greene's classroom.

"I came in Saturday and set up the furniture in my room and I thought it would take a miracle for this school to be ready by Monday," Greene said. "We still don't have our lab sinks for a couple more days, but it has been amazing how much has been done since Friday."

The other new schools that opened Monday include Berkley Bunker Elementary School and Edith Garehime Elementary School in the Northwest, Paradise Elementary School on the UNLV campus, and Francis Cortney Middle School Frank and Lamping Elementary School in the Southeast.

A ninth new school opened Monday, but did so without a building. Students at Raul Elizondo Elemetary School are attending classes in portables on the campuses of Elizabeth Wilhelm and Gwendolyn Woolley elementary schools in Northeast Las Vegas.

Elizondo is set to be completed in January and Principal Billy Chapman hopes to move out of the portables and into the school at that time.

"Construction on the school is moving along at a good pace, and the staffs at Woolley and Wilhelm have been very helpful," Chapman said.

Elizondo has 13 portable classrooms and administrative offices at Woolley, while there are four Elizondo portables at Wilhelm about three miles away.

"My first instinct was to take my child out of school when I heard about this," said Sherry Hastings, who has a Elizondo third grader. "But now that I've seen the insides of the classrooms they are not so bad. It's a lot better than having a split session like we had last year."

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