ORLANDO, Fla. \u2014 Area students and teachers returned to class at new campuses Tuesday after Orange County Public Schools consolidated seven schools at the end of the last school year due to declining enrollment.<\/p>\n
The consolidation included Union Park Middle School and Bonneville, Orlo Vista, Chickasaw, Eccleston, McCoy, and Meadow Woods elementary schools.<\/p>\n
Ventura Elementary School is among the campuses receiving students and staff from the closed schools. Principal Tom Kalament said Ventura is welcoming 200 students from consolidated schools, along with 20 new teachers and staff members.<\/p>\n
Among them is third-grade teacher Brooke Torres, who taught at McCoy for 10 years.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe first day jitters are always there, but I think this year it\u2019s even more a little jittery,” she said. “But also exciting, because we will get to see familiar faces, as well as welcoming new students as well.”<\/p>\n
She said about 10 other McCoy teachers came with her. Orange County Public Schools offered them support during the consolidation process, said Torres, who still keeps in touch with her former coworkers.<\/p>\n
\u201cEveryone was sending messages like, \u2018Good luck at your new school, hope you have a great first day.\u2019 So that\u2019s just reassuring too, that we\u2019re all going into new adventures,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Kira Judah, a math and science instructional coach, is starting her first year at Ventura after teaching at Bonneville Elementary School for 11 years.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was really sad for Bonneville to close, so that\u2019s been a little bit of a transition,\u201d Judah said.<\/p>\n
She said staff members at Ventura have been welcoming, and some of her former coworkers also moved to the campus.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve already done some team building with teachers,\u201d Judah said. \u201cWe did open house, so I\u2019ve already met some of the students and things like that. So, I\u2019m really optimistic that we\u2019re gonna have a great year.\u201d<\/p>\n