4S RANCH, Calif. (KGTV) — Del Sur Elementary students in the Poway Unified School District returned to school Monday — 11 days later than expected and on a different campus — after mold was discovered at their school the night before the school year was set to begin on Aug. 13.
About 840 Del Sur students are now sharing Stone Ranch Elementary with its 550 students for at least the next month while mold cleaning and testing continues at Del Sur.
To manage the nearly tripled campus population, both schools are keeping their traditional bell schedules, with Del Sur students starting and ending their day an hour after Stone Ranch students to help with traffic flow.
Four classes are also being held down the street at the Boys and Girls Club to create additional space.
Despite the unusual circumstances, students at Stone Ranch gave their new classmates a warm welcome.
"They were like giving high fives and like clapping for us and making us welcome to the new school," said Del Sur 4th grader Chaitra Movva.
The warm welcome — making some of them feel right at home.
"It felt like our old school," said fellow 4th grader Sravya Vaka.
Navigating an unfamiliar building, naturally, had its learning curve.
"I don't even know where the nurses office is, or, like, yeah," said Kipton Bowman, another Del Sur 4th grader.
Still, students gave the day high marks overall.
"It was very fun," Kipton said.
"It honestly felt pretty good," said 3rd grader Griffin Lee.
The transition was not without anxiety for families.
"Nervous because, new school, we're not really sure what's going on. But it was handled so well," Del Sur parent Heidi Standiford said.
Standiford, whose children are in first and third grade, also expressed concern about the mold itself.
"My oldest, two years ago when they had the mold, had a horrendous cough. Left school up for the summer and it went away, so to hear that it's back was very, very concerning," Standiford said.
The uncertainty in the days leading up to the return was not just a concern for the students, but families too.
"Working parents — it's hard because you don't have a date (to return to class). You're like, what do I do with these kids? They have to be somewhere." Standiford said.
When asked to grade the first day back, Chaitra gave it an "8 (out of) 10."
"9 out of 10," said her friend Sravya.
District officials said they plan to share more information with families about mold testing in two weeks.
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