By Tom Vaught
sun staff writer

HOLMES BEACH – It took some effort, but 300 students from Anna Maria Elementary School found their classrooms on the first day after the holiday break.

They weren’t returning to their old school; they were returning to their new school with new classrooms to find, new indoor hallways to walk and new stairs to climb.
It took a lot of planning on the part of the school’s administration to get the children to their destinations, but it worked.

The children who rode buses came in from the new service driveway where the parking lot used to be. The rest rode bikes or walked, many with their parents, to the landing on the south west area of the new building. The formal entrance would be to the north of this area, but it is currently inaccessible because of the old school campus, which is being prepped for demolition.

As the students arrived, they were stopped at the landing by art teacher Gary Wooten. Kindergarten through second-grade students and parents were sent to the ground-floor cafeteria where they were sent to their new classrooms. Third- through fifth-grade students entered the hallway and walked to the stairs. They were sent to their classrooms located on the second floor.

"They did a good job of organizing this," said Michael Pierce, of Bradenton Beach, whose granddaughter attends the school. "People think this just happens, but it takes a lot of planning to make sure it runs smoothly."

Pierce should know. He was the parents’ representative on the school construction team.

After the kids were sent to their classes, parents and guardians were invited into the cafeteria where Principal Kathy Hayes and Wooten led tours of the new building.

By Monday, the process was running smoothly, according to Hayes.

"It ran beautifully," she said. "The kids adapted real well and we are getting requests from parents to see the inside. If they want to stop by, we can give them a tour. I’ll show them around personally."