By JOSEPH FITZGERALD

NORTH SMITHFIELD – When the doors of the town’s new middle school opened Wednesday to welcome students for the 2008-09 academic year, Principal John Lahar finally felt like he could relax.

“The process of building and opening a new school was stressful and hectic, but to see the kids in the building today was really gratifying and I was able to breathe a lot easier,” said Lahar, who was on hand to welcome students for their first day of school in the new $30 million facility.
The first day of school can often be chaotic, especially when you’re beginning the new academic year in a brand new building. But according to Lahar, yesterday’s official opening couldn’t have been any smoother.
By all accounts, the more than 500 students in grades 6, 7 and 8 loved their new school, which was completed two years after town voters approved a bond for that purpose.
The 105,000-square-foot facility on Providence Pike was designed by Providence-based Robinson Green Beretta Corp. and constructed by Gilbane Building Company. It boasts a new state-of-the-art library and media center, a full-size gymnasium and multipurpose cafeteria.
“It was a great opening and the kids really love the building,” Lahar said.
This was the first time students had a chance to see the building. School officials had intended to hold two days of student orientation to acquaint the students with the new facility. However, a problem with the building’s sprinkler system forced officials to cancel those plans as well as a ribbon cutting ceremony for the public last week.
A fire suppression pump was repaired last Friday and the school was granted its certificate of occupancy that day, ensuring the school would open as scheduled yesterday.
The ribbon cutting ceremony and open house for the public is now slated for Sunday, Sept. 14, at 2 p.m.
In an effort to orient and transition them to the new school, staff gathered the students in assigned locations to meet with their homeroom teachers, who escorted them to their homerooms. During an extended homeroom period, teachers welcomed students, distributed handbooks and reviewed schedules, Lahar said.
In addition to receiving locker assignments, combinations and practicing opening locks, the kids had some fun with the process, trying their hands at building map games and activities.
A welcome assembly in the cafeteria included a slide show outlining construction of the school. Students were next given building tours.
“The kids are really excited to have a place to call home,” Lahar said.
Teachers were able to access the building after it was completed last month and have been “all hands on deck” ever since, he said. “The teachers have been fabulous,” Lahar said. “I’ve been here on weekends trying to get things ready and I was never alone.”
There will be some changes to the middle school program of studies this year, including expansion of the physical education program; changes in the social studies program (including two years of history for seventh and eighth graders); changes in rotating electives and a new journalism program, among other things.
There were no opening day problems reported at the district’s other schools Wednesday, including North Smithfield High School, North Smithfield Elementary School and the Halliwell Memorial School.