By Fallan Patterson
Staff Writer

The first day of school for Osceola County opened with few issues Monday as students hiked backpacks on their shoulders and filled the classrooms.

At East Lake Elementary School, a brand new school off Boggy Creek Road, parents were happy to have a school closer to home.

“It's so close to the house in case something happens,” said Atabex Valles, mother to Jasiel, 6, who began first grade this year.

East Lake Principal Stacy Berdette shook hands with parents and opened car doors to welcome the school's first students onto campus. After holding a successful open house Aug. 20, Berdette said the community has welcomed the new teachers and staff.

“I think it's a little nerve-wracking for students coming from established schools,” she said. “You really want to make sure every student has a memorable (first) day in a positive way.”

The school hosted a breakfast for parents of kindergarten students to share information about the new school and help ease nervousness.

Jose and Jessie Gonzalez, who attended the breakfast, have three children – Joshua, Jennesys and Jeysali – entering kindergarten at East Lake, a set of twins and a daughter whose September birthday pushed her school start date back a year. Although Jessie Gonzalez looked nervous, she put on a brave face for the youngsters.

“We thought it was going to be hard. We're emotional but we don't want to show them,” she said. “I think the parents are more nervous than the kids. They like it.”

Berdette, the former principal for six years at Cypress Elementary, is a self-proclaimed proponent of the arts and is excited for students in third through fifth grade to pick an in-school club that will rotate every nine weeks. Students can choose from African drums and string instruments to dance and other physical fitness-oriented clubs. All students take physical education, music and art classes.

“We know there are true artists here,” Berdette said.

Additionally, East Lake Elementary is one of five new schools in the district to provide students with SMART Board technology in the classroom. The interactive whiteboards provides teachers with ways to create captivating lessons for students with touch-screen capabilities. Sixty percent of all public school classrooms in the county have this technology.

Teachers also wear miniature microphones that filter their instructions throughout the classroom without the teachers needing to strain their voices. The technology also helps students with hearing disabilities.

Osceola County School District Superintendent Michael Grego greeted students and parents at East Lake after waving off school bus drivers at the transportation center. He said the schools' open houses were packed this year, possibly due to later hours to accommodate working parents and each school level opening on its own day.

“We're trying to be customer-focused and customer-friendly,” Grego said. “We want to build a relationship between parents and their school.”

Grego said the School District and its staff worked hard to make this year the “smoothest of years” and keep morale high. He boasted that Osceola County is the largest school district in Florida with a K-12 uniform policy, which he said has “calmed our campuses.”

East Lake Elementary eased student enrollment at Venture Elementary School and serves the children of the Narcoossee-area of Osceola County. Projected enrollment for East Lake is 787 students and the school cost $17.5 million to build.