All the local schools reported smooth and uneventful goings on
for Bradford students’ first day back to school on Tuesday.

This year, problems for the Bradford Area School District were
limited to a phone issue at George G. Blaisdell Elementary School,
which was short-lived, according to Superintendent Sandra
Romanowski on Tuesday.

“Everything seems to be going well. The busing was rather
uneventful this morning, which was a good sign,” Romanowski said.
“There was a glitch with the phones at GGB this afternoon
(Tuesday). Something happened with the computer, so one parent that
called got a message the schools were closed. After a few minutes,
that was fixed.”

Romanowski noted that for the elementary students, a longer bus
ride in the afternoon should not be cause for concern.

“The first day, it takes the elementary students a little longer
to get home,” she explained. “It takes them awhile to get used to
it. We expect for the first three days of school the elementary
buses will get home later.”

Romanowski finished by stating she hadn’t heard any reports of
problems as of late Tuesday afternoon.

“So far, so good,” she said.

Meanwhile, smooth and successful reports were also received from
the Bradford Area Christian Academy, The Learning Center and St.
Bernard Elementary and Middle School.

Jim Machuga, principal for the Bradford Area Christian Academy,
had a strong opinion of the first day back for students.

“Absolutely fabulous,” he said. “We haven’t experienced any
problems at all. All the children had smiles and the teachers were
excited. We are going to have a fabulous year.”

The academy, Machuga explained, increased its enrollment to 60,
bringing its total up 45 percent from last year. A second lunch
period was also fit into the day’s schedule.

“That went very smoothly,” Machuga stated. “Of course, we will
fine tune it.”

St. Bernard Principal Kim Mooney sounded cheerful and satisfied
with the day’s success when contacted.

“It went fantastic. Very smooth. There were no problems to
report, which is a good thing,” Mooney said.

Finally, students at The Learning Center also had an uneventful
first day in terms of problems, although Director Ellen Mialky said
the day was active enough the children will probably be tired this
evening.

“The day went very, very well,” Mialky said. “The children
seemed happy to get back to school. We had no tears today
(Tuesday).

“I’m sure they will be tired tonight, but that’s part of getting
back into the routine. We had a really nice day.”

Today will mark the first full day for Floyd C. Fretz Middle
School and Bradford Area High School upperclassmen, who were on a
slightly altered schedule for Tuesday, allowing the new students to
the respective schools time to familiarize themselves with their
surroundings.

Students will enjoy another four-day week next week, with Monday
off to celebrate Labor Day. Then it will be time to buckle down,
with the next vacation day for Bradford schools slated for Oct.
12.