Lewiston-Auburn schools begin new year with excitement, high energy

Schools in Lewiston and Auburn fully reopened Wednesday for the first time since March 2020 when the COVID-19 pandemic hit Maine.

It was a day of high energy, Lewiston Superintendent Jake Langlais said.

He and Assistant Superintendent Karen Paquette visited most of the schools in the 5,000-student district, he said.

“It was a huge positive,” Langlais said. “Everyone was very excited to be back and full of great energy. It’s what we were hoping for.”

Lewiston has an indoor masking mandate passed by the School Committee last week amid a “substantial” virus transmission rate. Substantial is one step from “high.” Masking is optional in Auburn schools.

Langlais said he saw no issues Wednesday around masking.

“Teachers were talking about the excitement about being back,” he said. “Kids and staff are so excited to be back that they are willing to do what it takes.”

He said he has been urging staff to establish routines, which many students did not have during the past year and a half. The district, like most others, adopted a hybrid model of learning that included in-person/remote instruction and for some, fully remote.

In addition to establishing routines, Langlais said, the district will focus on well-being.

“We are not putting wellness on the back burner this year,” he said. “We want to build up stamina, be patient and keep wellness in the forefront.”

Only ninth-graders attended the high school Wednesday. Grades 10-12 will start Thursday.

For the ninth-graders, Wednesday was a “big benchmark,” Langlais said.

Lewiston High School Principal Tyler Putnam said limiting high school attendance to ninth-graders was “great because these kids haven’t been all together in 17 months.”

He added, “They were wide-eyed and the energy was high. We’re going to take that energy and put it to use in the classroom.”

He said the students had no problem wearing masks.

“Kids are very resilient,” Putnam said. “It’s too bad they have to be, but they understand that that’s the policy the School Committee put in place.”

He said the students’ high energy had a positive effect on teachers.

“Teachers feed off kids,” he said. “At the end of the day, everybody was walking around like, ‘It’s crazy. We haven’t had this for a year and a half.’ Just having classrooms full of kids brought back that spark in teachers.”

Kids learn best in classrooms and teachers do their best teaching in person, he said.

At Montello Elementary School in Lewiston, students arrived smiling and eager to get started, Principal James Cliffe said. “From my perspective, the day was exciting for many students and staff alike,” he said.

He said staff focused on building classroom communities: “Introducing and practicing routines and procedures, facilitating ‘get to know each other’ activities, and generally setting a positive and caring tone for the year.”

He said students and parents were cooperative and understanding of the district’s masking requirement.

“There was a general good vibe about being back together and getting back to some sense of school normal,” Cliffe said.

In Auburn, Edward Little High School opened Wednesday for ninth-graders only.

Principal Scott Annear called it a great day: “Lots of energy and enthusiasm by all, students and staff. Great atmosphere all day.”

He said students and teachers shared with him how much they enjoyed the day and were happy to be back.

“Our Student Leadership Council and advisers led the day’s activities,” he said. “We had sessions on ‘a day in the life of a Red Eddie’ (the school’s mascot), laptop distribution and setup, a terrific cookout with all students and staff getting to know each other and finished with a walk-through to each of the classes.”

Annear and other Auburn principals reported to the School Committee on Wednesday night about their first day back.

Annear said staff “was eager to get going, eager to have everyone in front of them.” Grades 10-12 will start classes Thursday.

Elementary school principals said it was good to hear children laughing and giggling again.

At East Auburn Elementary School, pupils were jumping up and down with big smiles on their faces, ready to learn, Principal Sue Dorris said.

Sherwood Heights Principal Cheryl Cline said pupils were engaged in learning about their new class settings and about each other.

“The most remarkable thing was that it seemed normal,” she said.

Walton Elementary School Principal Mike Davis shared his “quote of the day”: At 8:15 a.m., one of the first pupils to arrive at the school jumped off the bottom step of the school bus with his arms in the air and said, “Yes! I missed going to this place.”

“To me, it was, that was it right there,” Davis said.