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Lucia Mar goes back to school

High school freshmen stood in a wide circle facing each other on black asphalt Thursday morning, their backpacks strewn on the ground outside of the circle with a teacher in the center.

In a nearby Central Coast New Tech High classroom, freshmen sat in an even wider circle and ran from one side to the other when prompted to find something in common with others. In another, freshmen worked in groups of four to build the tallest tower with a deck of cards.

Most schools would call the activities “ice breakers,” but six New Tech teachers were directing exercises to show the school’s first class of about 110 freshmen how they’re going to work together this year.

“We’re doing a lot of team-building right now,” said Principal Dan Neff, noting that students were taught about trust, respect and responsibility on the first day of school in the Lucia Mar Unified School District.

Thursday also marked the first-ever classes at New Tech High, located on the south end of Nipomo High School campus in a remodeled maintenance building, a Gen 7 building and portable classrooms. The school, which emphasizes 21st century and project-based learning skills, will grow to 500 students in four grades by 2015.

Sixty-three freshmen live in Arroyo Grande, with the rest from Nipomo. Of the Arroyo Grande kids, about 80 percent will ride the bus that leaves Arroyo Grande High School for New Tech at 7:15 a.m.