Wednesday marked the beginning of the school year in Seymour, and the first day of instruction at the new Chatfield-LoPresti Elementary School.
Principal Dave Olechna was in front of every bus that pulled up in front of the school Wednesday morning, ready to greet each student with a welcome back and a low five.
Olechna and all his staff members were wearing custom-made blue T-shirts for the occasion, with “Care, Learn, Succeed” emblazoned on them in yellow script.
Several photos from Wednesday morning appear as a slideshow at the bottom of this story.
The school — for kindergarten through fifth grade, with 562 students enrolled — has held two open houses for parents and other members of the community.
But Wednesday it was time for business.
“At this point, we’re just anxious for the kids and teachers to meet,” Olechna said.
School staff planned several activities to acquaint children with the school, he said.
School Board Chairman Yashu Putorti was also on hand and was glad to see things going off without a hitch.
“The school looks great. I think it’s going to function well,” he said. “The big point is we made it. We made it on time.”
Putorti was touring school openings throughout town with Superintendent Christine Syriac and First Selectman Kurt Miller.
Miller had an ulterior motive to be at Chatfield-LoPresti — it was his 5-year-old daughter’s first day of kindergarten, too.
Syriac said so far, so good.
“We’re doing a great job this morning,” she said, though she hadn’t yet been back to her office, where she said she’d hear about any problems.
“Any first day you always have a few things and by the end of the first week everything’s running smooth,” Syriac said. “We’ll take care of any issues.”
A $32.5 million project turned the building from the Chatfield School into Chatfield-LoPresti. Click here for some background.