Encinitas Union School District
101 S. Rancho Santa Fe Road
Encinitas, California 92024-4349
Phone: (760) 944-4300 | FAX (760) 944-4393

EUSD gears up for new year

Students will end summer vacations,
return to school on Monday

Kimberly Epler
Staff Writer
North County Times

ENCINITAS - Come Monday morning, summer vacation is over for children in the Encinitas Union School District. More than 5,000 students will return to classes in the growing elementary school district and a new generation of kindergartners will take their first steps into a larger world. For the past week, everyone from school principals to teachers to cafeteria workers have been preparing for the big event on nine campuses in Encinitas and south Carlsbad. On Friday, they all gathered under one roof at St. John's Church in Encinitas to spend time with each other, administrators and board members before launching into another year. Superintendent Doug DeVore, greeted with a rousing round of applause from the standing-room-only crowd of 400, talked about the changing face of the district.

"When we come together at one place, and this will probably be the last time we can do that this year, it's a special time for me and I hope it's a special time for you," he said. "We have grown a lot in the last two to three years and we've hired 120 new teachers," DeVore said, adding student growth - an increase of 400 students since 1996 - is hitting the district from every direction. "It's going to be exciting," he said. A tenth campus in the La Costa Valley housing development is scheduled to open in 2000.

Among the throngs was newly appointed Principal Gregg Sonken, who is taking over the helm of Paul Ecke Central and Pacific View elementary schools. "We're ready and we're excited" he said. Hardly a newcomer, Sonken has lived in Encinitas since 1979 and served the district for 14 years as a teacher, mentor teacher and assistant principal. "We have a staff of real professionals that are really devoted to children '" he said. "They're really happy to be there." Sonken replaces Nancy Cunningham, who has taken the new position of director of administrative support services for the district. Cunningham's responsibilities include grant writing, technology development and Personnel recruitment.

Friday morning at La Costa Heights Elementary School in Carlsbad, tanned teachers wheeled carts of textbooks to their classrooms. PTA volunteers assembled information packets. Parents tackled tasks in the front office. Inside one of the portables, Principal Deborah Blow said this year's enrollment has increased by at least 30 kids for an unconfirmed total of 730. Rapid development of La Costa Valley, a short distance south of the school, accounts for many of these students, she said. Can the school accommodate more new arrivals? "We have room for any student in our attendance area," Blow said. The first day of school is a culmination of planning that began last spring, she said. "We hope to leave no stone unturned," Blow said. "Once we get through that first half of the first day, we breathe a sigh of relief."

In Encinitas on Friday, staff prepared Olivenhain Pioneer Elementary School - also filled to capacity with some 860 students - for its fifth school year. The California Distinguished school boasts its largest  kindergarten class, with 127 youngsters. Principal Emily Andrade and her staff fielded questions from more than 100 parents and kids who arrived for kindergarten orientation. "Where do I put this medical form?" one mother asked. "Lay it over there," Andrade said smiling and pointing to an office desk. "What class is Kai Gehlsen in?" asked father Kurt Gehlsen." Mrs. Connolly's class," Andrade said, after barely a pause. "Wow, I knew this was a good school," Gehlsen said, impressed. "How about my daughter Alexie?" "Mrs. Nash," Andrade replied, without even glancing at a list. Andrade said she and her staff have spent the last few days trying to find spots for a waiting list of children.