LEWISTON —
First-grader Andrew Letourneau was one of 673 students about to attend
the new, $22 million Raymond G. Geiger Elementary School early
Wednesday, the first day of classes in Lewiston-Auburn.

Shortly after 8 a.m., Andrew was impatient.

“Why can’t we go in now?” he asked his mother.

Outside the school a growing crowd waited for the doors to open.
Many had already taken a tour during last week’s open house. The
College Street school is on 24 acres. It has two playgrounds, one near
the school’s wing for the youngest students, another for older kids.
There’s a full-sized gym, a stage, a cafeteria where students eat on
round tables instead of rectangle ones.

Classrooms are wired with the latest technology. That will keep more
students interested in their lessons, said Andrew’s mother, Jenny
Walton. “They have tons of computers. That’s how kids learn now.”

Paige Pomerleau,
5, buried her head into her mother when asked about starting
kindergarten. “She couldn’t sleep last night she was so excited,” said
her mother, Sherri Pomerleau.

Ryan Pomerleau,
7, described his new school as “way bigger” and “more colorful” than
Pettingill. “And we don’t have to walk outside to go to the library.”

Keith and Sherri Pomerleau
have three children at Geiger. “They’re going to have incredible
opportunities here,” she said, praising the state-of-the-art music
room, art room and library. “They’ve really taken time to put this
school together.”

As she spoke parents dropped students off in a driveway specifically for that purpose.

Another adjacent driveway was only for buses.

Khadra Mohamoud waited for her children to arrive on Bus 25. When the bus pulled up, Mohamoud smiled and took pictures of her children stepping off the bus and into the school.

Chris Dube, who has four children at Geiger, was also taking
pictures. “My wife was seeing them get on the bus. I was seeing them
get off.” With a new school came a new routine. Dube wanted to make
sure his kids got where they were supposed to.

Like many, Dube called the new building beautiful. “But it’s a
different world coming from Pettingill.” Coming from a school with 341
students to one with 673 “is intimidating,” Dube said. “We’re
cautiously optimistic.”

The school teachers prekindergarten through grade 6.

As students walked in, ed tech Nick Piper held the door open.

“Welcome to Geiger,” Piper said.

Inside, Assistant Principal Deanne Nadeau offered a “Good morning!”
on the intercom, welcomed all and talked about Wednesday’s lunch.

The opening morning went “fantastic,” Principal David Bartlett said. “A little chaotic, but under control.”

Shima Ali, who turns 5 soon, started kindergarten wearing a new outfit of blue pants, a pink top and black and white hijab. Shima came to school with her uncle, Somali native Iman Osman.

“It’s a beautiful school,” Osman said. “It’s a nice opportunity. Our parents never had a chance to go to school.”

The school is being paid for mostly with state money, or 96.5 percent, and 3.5 percent by Lewiston taxpayers.

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Kristie Feely, center, Ed Tech in Jennifer Duley’s kindergarten class, greets Paige Pomerleau and her mother, Sherri, on Paige’s first day of school at Geiger Elementary in Lewiston.

Shima Ali grasps tightly to her uncle’s, Iman Osman’s, hand as he escorts her to her first day of kindergarten at Geiger Elementary School Wednesday.

A tribute to Geiger Elementary’s namesake, Raymond Geiger, contains memorabilia from his past and his many years as the editor for the “Farmer’s Almanac.”

Shima Ali, center in pink, checks out the commotion around her as her uncle, Iman Osman, drops her off for her first day of kindergarten at Geiger Elementary Wednesday. The recently completed school is themed after Dr. Seuss’s book “Oh the Place You’ll Go.”

Principal David Bartlett ushers kids from the last bus into the new Geiger Elementary on the first day of school Wednesday.

Keith Pomerleau hugs his daughter, Paige, before leaving for work on Paige’s first day of kindergarten.

Paige Pomerleau can barely contain her excitement as her mother, Sherri, shows Paige her desk and new crayons on the first day of school.

Paige Pomerleau, center, walks down the hall with her mother, Sherri, to her first day of kindergarten at Geiger Elementary Wednesday.