BRIDGEWATER — The new Pasquaney School District opened its doors for its first academic year on August 26, and when the school board met the following evening, members heard nothing but praise for the successful start.
Bridgewater-Hebron Village School Principal Tonia Orlando said, “Our first day of school was fantastic. It’s the best day of the year. People say it’s Christmas; it’s not. The best day of the year is the first day of school. So there is nothing better than seeing kindergarteners come into the building and, you know, they’re a little shaky and their chins are down a little bit, and it does not take long for us to get them connected to adults and to their peers.”
Superintendent Russell Holden commented, “It was real evident Tuesday morning when the kids walked in the building, the passion that [the teachers] have and why they do it, … and things just moved really well.”
Several in the audience praised the school opening, with Hebron Selectman John Dunklee saying, “I just took a little short tour of the school, and ‘amazing’ is not a good enough word. You people have done something that I don’t think anybody else in the state has done, and I’m impressed, really impressed.”
Orlando noted that the building, formerly leased to the Newfound Area School District, is fully staffed.
“A number of schools in our region are not fully staffed,” she said. “We are absolutely 100 percent staffed at this time, and that speaks to the culture and climate of this building, and that people wanted to remain here and wanted to apply here and be here. So that’s something to be very proud of. Classrooms are very well-organized and welcoming for the start of school. So thank you to all the teachers for that work they did to make that happen.”
It was not only the teachers: The school district had to set up an entirely new technology system, including a new student management system, with network and server upgrades and new access points for internet connectivity. Information had to be transferred from Newfound, with the staff learning how to use the new computers and devices — “the minor things we’ve needed to figure out as we have separated,” Orlando said.
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