Students at Delaware City Schools went back to class Wednesday for the first day of the 2019-2020 school year.
The day marked the first school day for new Woodward Elementary School Principal Eric Barr, who joined the district this summer. Barr was previously the principal at Northwood Elementary School in Sidney, Ohio, and replaced previous principal Ryan Malany, who left the position in May to become the principal of Jonathan Alder High School in Plain City.
“We’re off to a great school year,” Barr said. “We have a wonderful staff ready to go, and I’m very excited about the opportunity to work in such a wonderful community.”
Barr isn’t the only new face at Woodward; fifth grade teacher David Losh joined the district this summer and was introducing himself and getting to know students Wednesday.
“My first day has been surreal so far,” Losh said Wednesday afternoon. “As a new fifth grade teacher to the district, words cannot describe the community that Woodward, and Delaware City Schools, has established. Family comes first, and that message is clearly embedded into our school community. I am looking forward to now being a part of that community.”
Another new face at Woodward is first grade teacher Noah Messerall, who said he enjoyed getting to know his class on his first day.
“My first day went very well,” Messerall said. “My students and I had a lot of fun getting to know each other. We went over some of our routines and expectations for our class. My favorite part was talking with the kids, getting to know them, and just hearing all the hilarious things kids have to say.”
The first day at Hayes High School, however, didn’t go as smoothly. According to Principal Richard Stranges, there was a power outage during the first period of the day.
“Back to school brings excitement and anticipation,” Stranges said. “We always want to make sure we’re prepared for our 1,700 students, but the power outage was unexpected.”
Stranges said the initial estimate said the school would be without power into the afternoon, and he added the school was focused on security and education while the lights were out.
“We wanted to make sure that education could continue,” Stranges said, adding most classes at Hayes have exterior windows that provided light during the outage. He said students in dark areas like the auxiliary gym had their classes moved into the hallway to continue class under the emergency lights.
Stranges added the locks and security measures were unaffected by the outage, and the power was restored ahead of time at approximately 9:30 a.m. He said the outage showed the cooperation at the school and with the district.
“It was pretty cool to see,” Stranges said. “Always have a plan!”
