Rayma C. Page Elementary

Parents, students get first taste of new Lee schools

By Anne Marie Apollo  (Bonita Daily News)

Tuesday, August 9, 2005

Standing just inside the doorway of Rayma C. Page Elementary School, rows of parents and students streaming past on either side, 7-year-old Cody Woods looked around the sunny lobby.

Taking it all in, the Bonita Springs second-grader summed up the school in a brief sentence: It doesn't look anything like a Kmart.

And as of Monday, it wasn't.

To more than 500 students and an excited staff, 17000 U.S. 41 South is more than bright classrooms carved out of a former discount store.

It's their school.

They, along with students at two other schools that opened in the district's south zone with the start of the 2005 academic year, have a chance to fully make their new school their own. Hundreds of Lee County students Monday navigated new hallways, took their seats at pristine desks and held their hands out for books with fresh bindings.

In addition to Rayma C. Page Elementary in San Carlos Park, Lexington Middle School and South Fort Myers High School opened their doors for the first time.

Parents eager for their child's first day of school flooded Rayma C. Page Elementary early.

Some kids had sleep in their eyes, others wore neatly pressed clothes, but their parents had one thing in common: questions.

At 7:30 a.m., one hour and 15 minutes before class started at the San Carlos Park school, receptionists in the school's lobby already were fielding queries.

Physical education teacher Stephen Sears, 25, stood at the front of the school greeting nervous parents and students both.

A recent graduate and transplant from Illinois, Sears was starting his first day at school too.

"I'm trying to make them feel at home, trying to create a sense of unity," he said.

With before- and after-school care not set to start at the school until Wednesday, parents who hoped to drop their children off early lingered for more than an hour, settling down on the floor with books for an impromptu story time.

Some planned to stay all day.

Joanne Martinez lined up her daughter, kindergartner Serena Martinez, 5, bright and early in the school's lobby for a photo. The Fort Myers mother and daughter were excited before the first bell even rang. Martinez said she planned to stay the day with Serena, her first child to go to elementary school.

The new school was their second choice, she said.

Several parents dropping their children off said the school, which is drawing kids from all parts of the county, hadn't been their first choice — often for geographical reasons — but the excitement of the teachers and staff was catching.

Barbara Waters brought three new students, her children Sean, 7, Erin, 9, and Ian, 10.

The family, which just moved from Michigan, had a great school there, Waters said.

"I'm hoping for the same results here," she added.

Bonita Springs resident Vicki McKay had high hopes for South Fort Myers High School.

She chose it for her granddaughter, 15-year-old Angela Peters, who just moved to the area with the hope that a new school meant fewer chances for cliques and gangs.

"I was very glad I got in," McKay said. "I'm hoping because this is a new school she will get to know a lot of people."

Peters said there are fewer students in the school than she's used to, which is something she liked.

"This school is way better," she said.

Freshmen Guelmis Alverez and Melissa Lau, both 14, gave the school high marks, too, with only one exception.

"I miss my friends who went to Estero," Lau said.

Principal Tommy O'Connell said 1,105 students are enrolled at South Fort Myers High School now, more than half of them freshman.

Full enrollment at South Fort Myers is 2,300 students.

The first day at the high school went very smoothly, surprisingly so, given that both students and teachers were learning about the building together, O'Connell said.

Team sports and other activities are either already started or planned.

"It's all rolling," he said.

Reading teacher Linda Kraatz said she thinks that's because the people at the school, students and teachers both, chose the school.

With a new school as a blank slate, educators there are hoping to capitalize on the positive energy and keep that excitement going all year, she said.

"It's a once-in-a-lifetime experience," she said.

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