School district marks ‘the dawn of new era’ SLIDE SHOW
Posted by James Fitzpatrick Jersey Shore at 9/12/2007 8:35 AM and is filed under Current of Downbeach,Current of Hamilton Township and Mays Landing,Current of Egg Harbor Township,Current of Galloway Township,Current of Pleasantville and Absecon,Current of Somers Point 
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By JACKIE HANUSEY
Staff Writer
EGG HARBOR TOWNSHIP – Things ran smoothly on opening day for the school district’s two new primary buildings on Thursday, Sept. 6.
Parents gathered outside the new buildings to see their young ones start the school year.
An hour before buses arrived at the new Primary School Campus at the Slaybaugh School, Principal Dennis Burd was already answering questions for anxious parents bringing their children to kindergarten.
"You have a few parents who arrive early because they're a little nervous and want to make sure they are at the right place at the right time," joked Burd, who has been in the district for more than 30 years.
About a dozen parents had already signed in their children by 9 a.m. Buses began arriving at 9:30 a.m.
"It's hard to believe that Matt's going to kindergarten already," said Stacey Zonge of the township’s Cardiff section.
Zonge and husband Gil "Junior" Zonge put their son on the bus at the designated stop in The Shires, drank a cup of coffee and, like most parents of kindergarten-age children, headed to the school to take photographs of the little ones coming off the bus for the first time.
At Slaybaugh, the Zonges watched as their son arrived on a new school bus and then climbed down the steps, his Spiderman backpack in hand.
"My mom's over there," Matt Zonge said quickly to Julie Haverstick, the school's primary counselor.
Haverstick welcomed students as they got off the buses; and with more than 30 years of experience, used a Winnie the Pooh hand puppet to greet them.
"I always greet them with Pooh Bear because it can make a sad child happy," she said. "Some of the kids are a little nervous when they arrive. But mostly, they're happy."
Students went into the multipurpose room when they arrived and listened to welcoming remarks from Burd.
"I’m looking forward to a really good year," he told the students.
Superintendent of Schools Philip Heery and Assistant Superintendent Scott McCartney were both at the new primary school on the C.J. Davenport Campus helping usher students off the bus and into the new building.
“It’s the dawn of a new era in Egg Harbor Township; the sun is rising on a new primary building,” said longtime Davenport Principal Lou Della Barca, who was appropriately wearing a sunrise and rainbow tie.
Students at Davenport entered through a side wing with a table near the center of the building substituting for the school’s main office. Other administrative business is being conducted at the Davenport main campus office.
After the children were in by 9:50 a.m. Della Barca said he was gearing up for the organized walk to lunch with the students.
With the A-wing, which includes cafeteria and administrative offices, incomplete students were walking to the older lunchroom at the main campus.
Heery said the en mass lunch for first-grade students was made possible with some adjustments in the number of tables in the cafeteria.
“It is times like these I am so pleased we have a flexible and intelligent staff,” Heery said, making the walk down the halls of the new Davenport school.
He was optimistic that the A-wing would be ready by this week.
It was also a big day for the teachers, among them Mary Strazzeri who was happy about transitioning from 16 years in the second grade to a kindergarten teacher at Davenport this year.
“I am very excited,” Starzzeri said about the first day. “The building is beautiful and there is a lot of storage.
“You are going to love your new room in the building,” she said to a few of her students.
Most of the parents and grandparents seemed more nervous than the children, snapping every last picture of the historic entrance into the new schools before the children slipped out of sight and into the teachers’ hands.
To comment on this story e-mail Jackie.Hanusey @catamaranmedia.com
By JACKIE HANUSEY
Staff Writer
EGG HARBOR TOWNSHIP – Things ran smoothly on opening day for the school district’s two new primary buildings on Thursday, Sept. 6.
Parents gathered outside the new buildings to see their young ones start the school year.
An hour before buses arrived at the new Primary School Campus at the Slaybaugh School, Principal Dennis Burd was already answering questions for anxious parents bringing their children to kindergarten.
"You have a few parents who arrive early because they're a little nervous and want to make sure they are at the right place at the right time," joked Burd, who has been in the district for more than 30 years.
About a dozen parents had already signed in their children by 9 a.m. Buses began arriving at 9:30 a.m.
"It's hard to believe that Matt's going to kindergarten already," said Stacey Zonge of the township’s Cardiff section.
Zonge and husband Gil "Junior" Zonge put their son on the bus at the designated stop in The Shires, drank a cup of coffee and, like most parents of kindergarten-age children, headed to the school to take photographs of the little ones coming off the bus for the first time.
At Slaybaugh, the Zonges watched as their son arrived on a new school bus and then climbed down the steps, his Spiderman backpack in hand.
"My mom's over there," Matt Zonge said quickly to Julie Haverstick, the school's primary counselor.
Haverstick welcomed students as they got off the buses; and with more than 30 years of experience, used a Winnie the Pooh hand puppet to greet them.
"I always greet them with Pooh Bear because it can make a sad child happy," she said. "Some of the kids are a little nervous when they arrive. But mostly, they're happy."
Students went into the multipurpose room when they arrived and listened to welcoming remarks from Burd.
"I’m looking forward to a really good year," he told the students.
Superintendent of Schools Philip Heery and Assistant Superintendent Scott McCartney were both at the new primary school on the C.J. Davenport Campus helping usher students off the bus and into the new building.
“It’s the dawn of a new era in Egg Harbor Township; the sun is rising on a new primary building,” said longtime Davenport Principal Lou Della Barca, who was appropriately wearing a sunrise and rainbow tie.
Students at Davenport entered through a side wing with a table near the center of the building substituting for the school’s main office. Other administrative business is being conducted at the Davenport main campus office.
After the children were in by 9:50 a.m. Della Barca said he was gearing up for the organized walk to lunch with the students.
With the A-wing, which includes cafeteria and administrative offices, incomplete students were walking to the older lunchroom at the main campus.
Heery said the en mass lunch for first-grade students was made possible with some adjustments in the number of tables in the cafeteria.
“It is times like these I am so pleased we have a flexible and intelligent staff,” Heery said, making the walk down the halls of the new Davenport school.
He was optimistic that the A-wing would be ready by this week.
It was also a big day for the teachers, among them Mary Strazzeri who was happy about transitioning from 16 years in the second grade to a kindergarten teacher at Davenport this year.
“I am very excited,” Starzzeri said about the first day. “The building is beautiful and there is a lot of storage.
“You are going to love your new room in the building,” she said to a few of her students.
Most of the parents and grandparents seemed more nervous than the children, snapping every last picture of the historic entrance into the new schools before the children slipped out of sight and into the teachers’ hands.
To comment on this story e-mail Jackie.Hanusey @catamaranmedia.com
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