A new elementary principal greets her new students.
It's a day of firsts as school resumes in Downingtown
As a line of kindergartners waited for late arrivals in front of the
» READ MORE: Brandywine Wallace Elementary School
yesterday morning before entering the building for the first time, principal Norma Jean Welsh came over to introduce herself.
"I'll help you out and you can help me out, OK?" she said, bending over to get face-to-face with her smallest students, as they stopped talking among themselves and looked up at her. "We're all new here, so we can help each other."
The children, dressed in their first-day best clothes, with paper yellow school buses pinned to their chests to identify them as kindergartners, nodded their assent, then returned to chattering with one another.
Welsh, 48, who was hired as principal at Brandywine Wallace just a few weeks ago, repeated that message, with variations, to parents and students yesterday, opening day for the Downingtown Area School District, one of 10 area districts and four in Chester County to open a week before Labor Day.
A 25-year education veteran, Welsh replaces Richard Orth, who retired at the end of last year after 17 years at Brandywine Wallace. Welsh was previously a principal in Delaware County's William Penn School District, and an assistant principal in Delaware state's Brandywine School District.
Parents welcomed her cordially. "I'm glad to have you guide the ship this year," said Alicia Harris, coming over to introduce herself and to make sure that Welsh knew from the first day that Harris' daughter, first grader Hannah Harris-Leshne, "is very quiet, but a really good student."
The first students to arrive at the 585-student school yesterday - fourth grader Kevin Clements and his brother, second grader Kyle, had also traveled the farthest to get there.
Dolores Clements and her family live in Fairless Hills, Bucks County, more than an hour away, but their new home in Wallace Township won't be ready for occupancy until mid-October. Until then, she said, she will be driving the boys to and from school.
"Its going to be tough," she said yesterday. "But I want them to start out on the right foot. To get them acclimated here - it's worth it."
The family had originally planned to move to Chester County for work-related reasons, Clements said, but when job plans changed, they decided to move anyway. "We fell in love with the area," she said.
Clements and many others like her are helping fuel a school population boom in the Downingtown district. Five years ago, it had an enrollment of 10,403 and had just opened its second high school. Now, a third middle school is in the works and there is discussion about building a third high school. Last school year, the district had 11,600 students.
For decades, the West Chester Area School District has had the largest number of students in Chester County, but by the 2006-07 school year, Downingtown had cut the lead from more than 1,100 five years ago to a mere 173. Since then, Downingtown's enrollment has jumped by about 200, spokeswoman Patricia McGlone said. "This may be the year we become the largest one," she said.
Brandywine Wallace, in East Brandywine Township, is one of nine elementary schools in the Downingtown district. It will soon be joined by Springton Manor, in nearby Wallace Township, which will be completed in February.
There is talk that the students from Brandywine Wallace may be moved to Springton Manor during renovations - replacing four modular classrooms with permanent ones and other changes - but no final decision has been made, McGlone said.
"This is an area where a lot of new companies are coming in, and a lot of people are following them - and it's a wonderful place to live," she said. "So we are seeing a lot of growth."