Amanda Coppola shared the feelings of her students and staff on her first day as principal of Webutuck Elementary School. The district’s three schools opened Sept. 4.

“I have all the feelings. I’m nervous. I’m happy. I’m anxious. We have all the feelings, but we’re going to make it work. We’re going to work together as a team to make it happen,” said Coppola, who was appointed to the position in July.

“We’re very excited. It’s a new year. We have many good events planned for this year. We have a wonderful staff. We have a lot of smiling faces on staff and students.”

There is excitement on the Webutuck campus as work on the $12.56 capital improvement project took place over the summer. The project included roof replacements at all schools, installation of air conditioning at the elementary school, milling/paving parking lots and sidewalks at the intermediate/high school and converting outdoor tennis courts into a multi-purpose athletic facility that includes pickleball courts.

Robert Knuschke, principal for students in grades seven through 12, complimented the district maintenance team for having the building ready for the start of the school year, considering all the capital improve project work done on campus over the summer.

“There’s lots of positive energy in the air. The kids seem happy to be back,” he said.

Angel Camargo Vazquez expects to have a busy high school junior year academically and in extracurricular activities such as the Diversity Club and a leadership program offered through Dutchess Community College.

“I’m excited. It’s my junior year, I’ve got a lot of new classes and I’m excited to see my friends,” he said. “Being back brought a lot of memories from last year. I’m just happy to be back.”

William Braislin is happy to be back teaching social studies to seventh and eighth graders.

“The first day of school is awesome,” he said. “The kids are ready to be back, ready to see their friends, ready to see us. I’m fired up. I’m happy to see the kids and watch them learn. I’m ready to spend some quality time with them.”

Kaylee Kelsey is back for her second year teaching music and chorus to intermediate and high school students. She’s also hoping to have students perform in a musical and play during the 2024-2025 school year. Students will perform Clue, based on the board game, in December, and auditions are scheduled for later this month.

“There are bigger and better things than last year and it just keeps on getting better,” she said.