First day of school is in the books

HEWITT — Upper Greenwood Lake Principal Daniel Novak was outside of his school long before the first buses pulled up on Wednesday morning, the first day of school in the West Milford district. He seemed as excited as the kids when they finally arrived.

Novak and Christine Witt, encore/basic skills teacher, walked out of the sparkling glass doors just after 8 a.m. to wait for the kids. Workers were pouring concrete for a new sidewalk down at the far end of the school, past where the buses would pull up. The rest of that job had been done earlier in the week.

Upper Greenwood Lake had a third kindergarten session added just last week, according to Novak. They had 52 walk-up registrations over the summer, many of them in the final week.

"We always have people who wait until the last minute," said Novak, nonplused by it.

He quickly hired a teacher and they transformed a room into a classroom in less than a week.

The buses started to arrive after more than a few kids were dropped off by their parents. Novak and Witt greeted them all, calling them by name. One of the first kindergartners came with her mom and dad. Julianna Kayal gave her dad, Mike, a big hug before they left.

Laura Bonsignore and Theresa Cantora were at the school before their kids' bus was. They waited, cameras at the ready. Bonsignore's youngest, Gia, was starting kindergarten. Cantora had three kids on the bus: first grader Olivia and twins Amber and Reilly, both starting kindergarten. Their grandma, Roseann Reilly was also there for the big day.

"I'll be crying if you wait here long enough," said Bonsignore. Her older daughter started high school earlier in the day.

Finally, the buses arrived. Gaye Kisch, the driver of bus 231 pulled up and the moms waved to her and the kids. There weren't any obvious nerves on the kids' faces, just the moms.

Another first.
For more photos from day one, go to page 8 and westmilfordmessenger.com.