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Chaffey district adds 90 teachers Daily Bulletin Members of the class of 2002 will not be the only freshmen on Chaffey Joint Union High School District campuses when school opens next Tuesday. The district has added 90 new teachers and expects 500 students more than it had last year, pushing the district's total students to nearly 18,000. Additionally, the district will open a second continuation school, Canyon View High School, on Fifth Street near Chaffey High in Ontario. The growth that has arrived is largely expected, said Barry Cadwallader, assistant superintendent of personnel. The district, which includes high schools in Ontario, Rancho Cucamonga and Montclair, has seen between 2.5 percent and 4 percent growth per year for the past five years. More than half the new teachers were hired to accommodate the increase in students. Others replaced retirees and transfers. The growth is good news for the area, say district officials. It is a sign of a healthy local economy with increased development and more people buying homes. The local growth also reflects a statewide trend, as the number of students in grades nine through 12 statewide has increased steadily over the past five years, said Gail Egleston, spokeswoman for the state Department of Education. At Chaffey, money from a district bond measure passed in the spring will go toward building two new high schools in Ontario and Rancho Cucamonga over the next four years as well as rehabilitating the existing campuses. For now, however, while many Chaffey district teachers and students are getting oriented to a new school, most also will be adapting to tighter quarters. "Accommodating them is the trick," said Gabriel Petrocelli, principal of Ontario High School, which expects 100 to 125 more students than it had last year and 15 new teachers. "We'll have to use all available teaching stations," he said. That means that most teachers will have to share their classrooms and will not be able to do their lesson preparations in their classrooms. "Everything is going to be impacted," Petrocelli said. The school, which projects enrollment at nearly 2,800, already serves lunch in two shifts. "Still students will probably wait another minute or two on (cafeteria) lines," Petrocelli said. Additionally, the district will be modernizing Ontario High classrooms, eight at a time, beginning in October, temporarily displacing students and teachers who may have to use the cafeteria or other makeshift spaces for class. Etiwanda High expects 20 new teachers and has requested two more, Principal Joe Kolmel said. The school projects an increase of 200 students. "We are trying to add 11 extra classes," Kolmel said adding that most of the new teachers are replacing those who retired. For all the Chaffey district campuses, which also include Montclair, Alta Loma and Rancho Cucamonga high schools, space is not the only difficulty. The district has a big job ahead in orienting its new faculty, "so new teachers understand the goals and missions of our district," said Superintendent Bette Harrison. She said she hopes to help teachers become immersed in the community as well as the school so they will want to stay a long time. "We want to have our mentor teachers work with them so they will not find the procedures and policies difficult to understand. That all makes them more effective teachers," Harrison said. All of the district's new teachers, including 31 at Montclair, 15 at Chaffey, 10 at Rancho Cucamonga, 10 at Alta Loma, and 5 at Canyon View, will have a district orientation Wednesday in addition to any school site orientations. |
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