Schools Superintendent Visits Hillcrest Elementary School

For Hillcrest Elementary School Principal Terry McVey, Tuesday's third day of school was much calmer than last week's chaos, when the first day of school was delayed by two days.

Hillcrest didn't have power for one day and didn't have Internet at the school for three days. McVey relied on her Blackberry and the PTA's e-mail system to communicate with the school community.

So while the Tuesday after Labor Day was closer to a typical day, the delayed start to the school year has meant a slightly longer adjustment period.

"It was a little difficult and a little challenging," she said. "Students are still getting back into the routine."

On Tuesday, Schools Superintendent Joe A. Hairston dropped by Hillcrest to visit with students and staff. Hillcrest was one of the six schools Hairston visited on Tuesday. His visit was scheduled to happen last week, but was postponed due to the power outages that delayed start of the school year.

Hairston said he has been impressed with how well students and staff recovered from the chaos and are focused on learning.

"Our principals and teachers have pulled things together," he said.

For first-grade teacher Amanda Winpigler, the first day of school was still very much like a typical first day for her students.

"They were nervous," she said. "They needed a lot of guidance."

But as of Tuesday, she saw them finding their routines and becoming more comfortable in the classroom.

In addition to the visit to Winpigler's class, Hairston also stopped by Kate Jaudon's second-grade class, Peggy Koenig's fifth-grade class and Betty Fields' special education classroom.