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Friday, August 5, 2005

New high school opens with an ‘aarrrgh’

By NICOLE SERVICE and MICHAEL REED | News-Journal Staff Writers

PALM COAST — How do you greet a pirate?

For students and faculty at the new Matanzas High School -- home of the Pirates -- the answer is simple: You bend your finger into a hook and growl a resounding "aarrrrgh."

Phillip, of Palm Coast, signs his name to a memory board that will carry the names of all the members of the inaugural class of Matanzas High School as the first day of classes begin at newly opened facility, Thursday, Aug. 4, 2005. (Photo: News-Journal/Brian Myrick)

It´s the new battle cry in a county that hasn´t had rival high schools in more than 31 years, and Thursday afternoon, on the opening day of Flagler County schools, Principal Chris Pryor used it to rally 600 students.

It was Pryor´s first step in giving the Mantazas Pirates an identity separate from the rival Bulldogs of Flagler Palm Coast High. Banners and posters hanging on the walls declared Thursday as the day "The Legend Begins."

About 600 sophomores and freshmen -- there are no juniors or seniors at Matanzas this year -- were among 11,000 students countywide returning to classes Thursday. Volusia County schools start Monday.

Excitement was highest at Matanzas and the county´s other newly opened school, Belle Terre Elementary.

Matanzas freshman Rick Aucay, 15, said he was "hyped up" to see his friends again.

"Everything is new and it´s all exciting, and you enjoy it because in a couple of days, you will be like ´ah, it´s time to go to school again.´ "

At Belle Terre Elementary School, hundreds of children wearing backpacks that looked like oversized turtle shells darted in and out of hallways as they searched for their rooms.

A bright-eyed and grinning Evan Touhey, 6, was already making new friends.

"I like this place," the first-grader said. "It´s like my home."

As always, a few glitches marred the first day. Buses were late in the morning and afternoon, stranding some students and angering parents. But those problems will get ironed out, Flagler Schools Superintendent Bill Delbrugge said.

Sheriff´s deputies -- at the school district´s request -- escorted school buses into Sea Colony, a gated community that wants to bar buses from its private streets. The deputies were there as "cool heads," Delbrugge said.

Thursday´s opening of the high school wasn´t ideal. Ninth- and 10th-graders started the school year in modular classrooms because of design flaws that delayed opening of all but Matanzas High´s media center and cafeteria at least a year and ran the project $10 million over budget. The rest of the school is expected to open next year.

In the cafeteria, hundreds of students lined up to write their names on a block of wood adorned with a pirate ship, treasure chest and other pirate-themed knick-knacks. The memento will be framed and displayed for years, maybe decades, to come.

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