Namesake Thiriot on hand for tardy opening of school

By Emily Richmond (contact)

Monday, Sept. 19, 2005 | 11:32 a.m.

After an extra three weeks of summer vacation, students reported this morning for the first day of classes at the new Joseph E. Thiriot Elementary School.

The campus opened three weeks late because of construction and design-related delays. It is the first time in more than a decade that one of the district's new schools was not completed in time for the start of the academic year.

On hand was the school's namesake, 99-year-old Thiriot, who welcomed the more than 400 students as they arrived at the West Harmon Avenue campus.

For Thiriot, who turned 99 on Aug. 20, the school's opening was a belated birthday present.

"It's wonderful, a wonderful honor. I still can't believe it." "Look at all these cute little kids," he said as he surveyed the lobby crowded with families.

Thiriot taught English and drama for 28 years at Las Vegas High School. He also spent seven years teaching in Lincoln County, where he was born in 1906.

Roland Munoz, who was at the school this morning enrolling his son in first grade, said the delay in opening actually worked better for his family.

"It gave us some extra time to get him ready," Munoz said as his son buried his face against his father's pants leg. "At his age it can be a little scary."

Mona Rosario had a tougher time convincing her daughter that the first day would eventually arrive.

All summer 5-year-old Lisa Rosario has talked of almost nothing but starting kindergarten, her mother said.

Dressed in a khaki skirt, yellow tank top and brand new white sneakers with pink glitter trim, Lisa said she knew all about what to expect at her belated first day of kindergarten.

"We go inside and sit down on the carpet. We listen to the teacher. We raise our hands and she calls on us."

To compensate for the late start at Thiriot, Lisa and her schoolmates will have to attend classes for three weeks longer than their peers at the rest of the district's nine-month schools.

Fred Smith, construction manager for the Clark County SchoolDistrict, said the district is taking steps to try to prevent similar delays in the future. The zoning, demographics and real property staff has been asked to do everything they can to find school sites as quickly as possible, Smith said. The district is also working with Nevada Power and other utility providers to expedite the red tape involved with installing services, Smith said.

The Clark County School District is about two-thirds of the way through its $3.5 billion capital plan approved by voters in 1998. The district opened 10 new schools in August. A replacement campus for the Miley Achievement Center, serving students with severe behavioral and emotional issues, will open in December.

At Thiriot this morning there were some finishing touches awaiting completion. A central courtyard shaded by a decorative metal mesh canopy lacked landscaping. Inventory sheets of equipment and supplies yet to arrive were taped outside the classroom doors.

The $17 million school is the first of a new, two-story prototype designed for smaller urban sites. The campus is also the first district elementary school to use "block" scheduling, which has become more common at the secondary level.

Thiriot students will have two "blocks" of 110 minutes, about twice the length of a standard class period. One block will focus on literacy and social studies while the other is dedicated to math and science.

The school will also incorporate the arts into daily lessons as part of a program known as "arts infusion," said Thiriot Principal Patricia Schmidt.

When the school's academic approach was being decided then-southwest region superintendent Allen Coles encouraged staff "to look for ways that would raise the children's level of learning and to take a creative approach," Schmidt said.

Coles retired over the summer.

For Lisa Frazier, knowing that veteran educator Schmidt was going to be principal of the new school was enough of a reason to request that her daughter be allowed to enroll in fourth grade at Thiriot. The family lives about a mile outside of the regular zone.

"Patricia Schmidt has an excellent reputation -- I knew with her in charge this would be a first-rate school," Frazier said.