Back to school on Long Island: Most students mark the start of the new school year Tuesday

Picture-perfect weather greeted students in hundreds of Long Island schools Tuesday as they began a new academic year marked with some old traditions and some new.

There were the old friends, familiar faces and the perennial bittersweetness of entering a new grade. Then there were the new experiences and new rules — this year, to the dismay of many, a state ban that requires students to put away their smartphones for the entire school day.

“I think some of the students are in torture right now,” senior Krisangely Torres half-joked about the mental state of her peers during last period Tuesday afternoon at Roosevelt High School.

Torres, 17, said she was upset at first over the state’s so-called "bell-to-bell" cellphone ban. But as Tuesday wound down, she said she had adjusted to the new reality.

“It's like strange, but it’s not that bad,” she said. “You focus more. I found that better.”

Torres was among the students from 75 districts across the Island to return to school Tuesday, joining three districts that kicked off classes last week. Another 33 will resume classes Wednesday, and 12 start Thursday.

The first day of a new school year is often a deeply personal occasion for students. For seniors, it’s their "last first day," marking the end of high school and the beginning of the transition into adulthood. For younger children, a new grade can also feel daunting.

“I’m very excited. I’m nervous at the same time,” said Basha Maltese, an 8-year-old entering third grade at Park Avenue Elementary in North Merrick.

“I’ve never been upstairs,” she said before entering the building. “I’ve never been to third grade before.”

Her mother, Amanda Maltese, shared the girl’s mixed emotions.

“It’s amazing to watch her grow up,” she said. “It’s a little sad. Every year she’s a little bit older and less of a baby. But I’m really excited.”

Last first day

For some seniors, Tuesday came with the awareness that their high school journey would soon come to an end.

“We're all realizing that the new chapter is coming and it's exciting, but it's also sad,” said Hauppauge High School class president Hannah Hartem, 17. “It's bittersweet.”

Hartem was among the 160 students who gathered early Tuesday morning on the school's football field for its annual senior sunrise breakfast. The graduating class consists of 280 students.

Teen girls arrived in dainty summer dresses, while the boys sported more casual shorts and tees. All mingled under the warm glow of the sunrise to celebrate and lament their last first day of high school together, as the breakfast reminded them that the formative years of being a teenager would soon be no more.

“It’s scary because we don't know how life is going to be like,” said Ayumi Bermudez, 17. "When we first started school, we just think like kids. But now we’re going to college ... we know we have to act like adults.”

Beaming students took pictures holding props and banners marking the day, though many were apprehensive of the future.

“It's kind of like the realization that we're going to be real adults and it’s going to be kind of hard to figure it out,” said Joe Pistritto, 17. “But these are the first steps to trying to.”

Several parents who helped organize the event milled about, anxiously snapping pictures of their children. Some didn’t think they could make it through the morning without shedding a tear.

“I’m going to cry every single day of the year,” said Julie Bartone, 56. “It's going to be heartbreaking when it's over. But we have such great memories, and they made such amazing bonds that will last their whole lifetime.”

'Finally here'

“Excitement” and “jubilation” were some of words Jordan Hollander used to describe the first day as he dropped his two children off at Park Avenue Elementary on Tuesday.

“We’ve been packing, getting ready the whole week before, so excited for this moment. It’s finally here,” he said. “They’re thrilled. Ready to see their friends, meet their new teachers, see their classrooms.”

His children and others were greeted with balloons, Disney music and the school mascot, Parker the panda. The father’s joy was shared by Principal Lynn Coyle, a seasoned educator who, even after more than two decades, still felt the nervousness and excitement of the special day.

“I miss them,” Coyle said. “It’s so nice to see when they come up and want to give you a hug or they want to tell you about their summer.”

Park Avenue Elementary is part of the North Bellmore district, which consists of five elementary schools with about 2,200 students. The district's superintendent, Marie Testa, said she hopes for a year full of “love, connection, relationship building, helping students grow as humans and [knowing] that they’re safe here and secure.”

The first day of school also gave parents an opportunity to catch up and plan for the academic year. Nikki Ansalone, co-president of the Park Avenue Elementary PTA, set up a table in front of the school where parents could grab a cup of coffee while signing up to volunteer for events.

“We call it our first day of coffee,” she said. “We have our sign-up sheets for everyone to volunteer for things throughout the year, pay your dues, have coffee, talk to the other parents and get excited for school.”

Cellphone ban rollout

At East Hampton High School, senior Stella Brecker said she and her parents were apprehensive about the smartphone ban.

Brecker, 16, said she has a busy schedule as the student body associate president and a member of the jazz band and the school's environmental club, and usually contacts her parents throughout the day. But the teen said she was looking forward to students being more present in everyday conversations.

“Especially for our senior year, it’s important to take everything in and just try to talk to everyone. I think that’s what everyone has been missing, just like the human interaction,” she said. “I think it’s going to be new [and] scary, but it’s going to be good in the long run.”

While educators have disagreed over the extent of the state prohibition, with some favoring a less restrictive approach, many agreed that the devices were a problem.

Billy Barbour, a social studies teacher at East Hampton High, said he felt positive about the ban given the widespread use of cellphones.

“You go to a restaurant, or you go to the movies … I think everybody’s pretty distracted,” he said. “Naturally, they're going to be distracted as well in class. So I think anything that you can do to help take that choice away is a good thing.”

Senior Toby Foster, 17, said while he thinks students will focus more with the restriction in place, there will always be a fear of not being able to contact families during an emergency.

He believes putting phones in pouches, which was the policy adopted by East Hampton High, is preferable to keeping them in lockers, the option chosen by many other districts on the Island.

“It’s going to be harder to sneak the phone in, which I feel like a lot of people are going to try,” Foster said. “I think the phone ban is just going to have positive and negative effects for students.”

Sara Smith, principal of East Hampton High, said the pouches automatically unlock at dismissal. Before students leave the school building, they can place the pouches in designated hampers.

At Roosevelt High School, students can open the pouches on their way out of school via magnetic stations affixed to walls and pillars by building entrances.

By the end of the school day Tuesday, Principal Keith Saunders Sr. said there were no documented violations of the ban, though a student said he had seen classmates trying — in vain — to open pouches.

Roosevelt schools Superintendent Shawn Wightman said the district’s middle school has used pouches in the past three years and noted that only current high school seniors are new to them.

Already, Wightman and others said they saw visible changes.

Athletic director Eamonn Flood described “a different vibe” in school, where he said he saw less lingering in the hallways from students who slowed down because they were texting or scrolling. Wightman said he observed more buzz in the cafeteria and classrooms.

“They're talking to each other,” Wightman said. “The discussions are more much richer because kids are more engaged.”

Haylee Salcedo Miller, 15, noticed something similar.

The junior said far fewer classmates turned to her to ask what the teacher just said. In the past, sometimes she didn’t know either because she was also distracted. But on Tuesday, she said she found herself more focused.

“I did pay a lot of attention. I got a lot of information and stuff that I probably wouldn’t have gotten if I had my phone because I check it every five minutes,” she said. “When I check the time, I look through my notifications.”

As Roosevelt students streamed out of classrooms and crowded in front of the unlocking stations after last bell, some were eager to open their pouches. Two students appeared a bit disappointed when they lifted their heads after having checked their phone for the first time since first bell rang.

Their devices contained no texts, or calls. Just notifications from some apps.