May Whitney students begin first day in school

The sign at the entrance to the Annex driveway reads "Welcome to the New May Whitney."

At roughly 8:30 a.m. today, the pitter patter of little feet roused the former Lake Zurich middle school at 100 Church St., which had largely been dormant for 18 months.

Roughly 436 anxious students huddled in the school's cafeteria awaiting the official announcement of the start of their academic year.

And then they were off, finding their way through hallways and classrooms that had been unfamiliar to them until Tuesday's orientation.

It was like any other first day of school, but for the nine-day delay in starting the academic year with the rest of Lake Zurich Unit District 95 schools.

May Whitney Elementary School was shut down Aug. 16 due to flooding, asbestos and mold, forcing a last-minute relocation of students to the Annex next door.

Today is the first full day of classes for first- through fifth-grade students and kindergarten orientation.

"I'm very relieved," Principal Deb Bruemmer said after the morning hustle died down. "It went amazingly well. Everybody's thrilled. It was very smooth considering it was a new building and we didn't know what to expect."

Brightly-colored kiddy posters in hallways and classroom walls and named labels on lockers give visible proof of how the Annex has been transformed into an elementary school.

"I think it looks great," said Sandy Moskal, of Lake Zurich, while checking out the kindergarten lockers with her 5-year-old son, Logan, who will begin classes Thursday. "The teachers did a great job. I think they pulled it together fairly quickly."

The Annex will serve as May Whitney's home for this academic year, and likely the next five years.