First day of school a success

Despite dipping enrollments in Carson City and Lyon County, school officials throughout the area reported a successful first day Monday.

"It's always so much fun to see all the smiles and the kids back in their new clothes," said Richard Stokes, superintendent of the Carson City School District. "It's a terrific part of what we do."

On the first day of school, 7,488 students showed up, compared with 7,819 on the first day last year.

"At first blush, there's a significant decrease," he said. "But we see a fair amount of fluctuation until about Labor Day."

Although helpful in determining an estimate, first-day attendance rate is not used to calculate enrollment.

School districts statewide will record the number of students in attendance on a certain day in September, known as "count day." Then each district will receive a set amount of money for each student in school that day.

Stokes spent much of the day visiting schools within his district, as did other superintendents in the region.

Supervising a district of 17 schools spread across more than 100 miles, it can be hard for Caroline McIntosh to get to each site.

But on Monday, with four of her staff, the Lyon County superintendent traveled to each school in the district.

"That's a huge day," she said. "But it was so much fun to see all the excited school and staff."

Enrollment dropped slightly in Lyon County to 8,863 Monday from 8,919 last year.

McIntosh said she remains optimistic it will be "fantastic" year, and that the growth there will eventually rebound.

"We'll be back up on the upswing again soon," she said.

Enrollment increased slightly, about 1 percent, in Storey County.

Superintendent Rob Slaby, who said he visited nearly every classroom in the district Monday, reported 440 students showed up for the first day of school compared with 435 enrolled last year.

"Enrollment is about where we projected," he said. "We're ready to rock 'n' roll."

Carson City's charter schools continue to grow. This year, online Silver State Charter School opened with seventh and eighth grades in addition to the high school grades.

Staff at Carson Montessori School spent the summer remodeling the site with the help of their family members.

"We had completely transformed our building," said Principal Jessica Daniels.

She said the school's reputation - it achieved "high achieving" status under the federal guidelines of No Child Left Behind last year - has helped it grow from 136 students last year to maximum capacity of 168 this year.

"Word-of-mouth has been wonderful," Daniels said. "We have very happy students and happy parents. We have excellent programs."