While some St. John public school students said they weren’t happy to return to school Monday, others couldn’t contain their enthusiasm that the long, boring summer was finally over.
"I get to do cool things and write reports," said LaTiah Jackson, 11, a sixth grader at Guy Benjamin School in Coral Bay.
She was hanging out with friends as they waited for school to start. Her friend, Jahnyah McCain, 9, a fourth-grader, said she was glad to be back because she was in a new grade, would learn different things and study reading.
Across the table, fourth-grader Naiquan Frett, 10, agreed that the summer was "kind of dull." He said he was going to working hard on math because his mother promised him if he did well, they’d go on a trip to New York.
At Julius E. Sprauve School, some of the students were just as enthusiastic.
"I like to meet new people and hang out with friends and learn new things," said Kisha Alejo 12, a Sprauve School seventh-grader.
She came to school with her father, Alfredo Alejo, one of numerous parents who went back to school with their children.
"It’s important for parents to show up and support their kids in school," he said.
Some teachers were also glad to be back at school.
At Guy Benjamin, second-grade teacher J’Nay Provost was ready for her first year as a teacher. She showed a visitor around her classroom, pointing out the name tags at each seat. Provost also discussed how she plans to help her students develop their independence and control their behavior.
"Each student will start with three paper clips," she said. If behavior problems occur, they’ll have to hand over one of the paper clips. However, Provost said they can work to get it back during the day. At the end of the day, she’ll send home a note to all parents indicating how their children did that day. She said the parent has to sign the note and return it to her.
Guy Benjamin School Principal Dionne Wells said the school has 94 students, up from 84 when school started last year. However, she said that by the end of last year, Guy Benjamin had 101 students.
At Sprauve School, Principal Mario Francis said the school has 230 students, up from 212 last year. He expects more students to transfer to the school or arrive as new students.
About 35 of those Sprauve students do not speak English, an issue Francis said required the hiring of two translators. Most of those students are Spanish speakers from the Dominican Republic, but a few from St. Lucia and Dominica speak only patois. The translators assist the students in the classroom and at individual sessions, Francis said.
"The whole process is to get them to speak basic English," he said.
Francis said he’s short a social studies teacher and one paraprofessional, a big improvement over some years when school started with up to four vacant teaching jobs.
At Guy Benjamin, first-grade teacher Jane Roskin said she was delighted to finally have a permanent job at the school. In June, parents and students held a protest in front of the school to ask that she be hired permanently, and most parents kept their children home from school. In 2004, Roskin, who was the school’s special-education teacher and lives in Coral Bay, was ordered to start work at Addelita Cancryn School on St. Thomas. She went on sick leave, taught at Gifft Hill School and then retired before returning in 2007 as the school’s reading coach. However, she was paid out of the school’s discretionary fund and was not a permanent staff member.
"I’m very excited," she said as she dashed off to her classroom.
Both principals said their schools were in good shape. Gov. John deJongh Jr., who arrived by boat to start his day at Guy Benjamin School, later said that there was a small leak in the roof of the Guy Benjamin lunch room, but otherwise the school looked in fine shape.
At Sprauve, Francis said maintenance started early in the summer, so the school was in good repair. However, he said that the school really needs to be relocated out of Cruz Bay’s congestion. Additionally, he said the school is old, and money could be better spent on a new school.
Sprauve Parent Teacher Organization President Alice Krall said there were a few air-conditioning issues, but the road-construction problems in front of the Clarice Thomas Annex had been resolved.
Three Sprauve students, wearing white gloves and sunglasses, stood outside the cafeteria greeting students and the governor.
"We’re supposed to inspire students and give them a little pep talk," explained eighth-grader Nyree Doway, 12.
As he headed off to St. Thomas to visit other schools, deJongh said he’d give St. John schools an A, mainly because the principals said they were happy with the condition of their schools.
