Bayou Blue Middle School opens its doors to students

Spirits were high Thursday as students filed into Bayou Blue Middle School for the first time.

About 300 students, the majority of whom had attended Raceland Middle School while the new facility was being built, went very smoothly. But as with any new construction, there were a few finishing touches still in the works, such as the bells signaling the end and start of classes.

Core and elective teachers escorted students from one end of the school to the other n just until the youngsters were able to get a feel for the school’s layout, Principal Sharon Dugas said.

Bayou Blue Middle School was over two years in the making. Dugas said the school was built based on the growing middle school population and crowding Raceland Middle School was faced with.

Stanford Construction Company from Springhill, La., built the facility. The school building is approximately 56,420 square feet and is located at 196 Mazerac St. in Houma.

“The building has been built to expand. There are 12 classrooms, a cafeteria, gymnasium, library and administrative offices,” Dugas said.

Prior to classes resuming after the holiday break, parents and students got a tour of the school Wednesday. Assistant Principal Sonja Dowling said the majority of the school’s 300 students n more than 70 percent n and their parents came out for the 30-minute tour.

“During the tour, we gave the students a moment to run free through the halls with maps so they could have an idea of where the classrooms, cafeteria, restrooms and other things are,” Dugas said.

The following day, as bus drivers dropped them off at the school, students were led to their classes.

In addition to the students who made the move from Raceland Middle School, Bayou Blue had five new enrollees who had been either home schooled for the past few years or had been attending private schools in the Tri-parish area, she said.

“All of the students that were at school on time Thursday morning had an opportunity to experience something first that the other latecomers wouldn’t experience n like eating breakfast in the new cafeteria,” Dowling said.

The students also have athletics to look forward to. Dugas said most of the fall sports are over, but the students will have opportunities to engage in a variety of spring sports such as track and volleyball. She said the athletic staff, including first-time Athletic Director Harriet Seven, has already been hired.

Although students asked were excited to be in the new environment, many were ambivalent because of the relationships they left behind.

Students in Susan LeBlanc’s seventh grade Life Science class said they are taking the transition from Raceland Middle School one day at a time.

Thirteen-year-old Kassie Best said the change struck her early Thursday. “I wanted to tell one of my friends something this morning, but I realized she wasn’t there,” she said.

Best’s good friend and Bayou Blue classmate Donovan Adams said in amusement, “She would be the one to have a DB ‘dumb blonde’ moment early in the morning outside of school n but she’s my friend so we will just pray for her.”

LeBlanc came to Best’s defense when she said that all the students had experienced something new but Adams. The science teacher jokingly said on the first day in the new school Adams has already been separated from his classmates for doing exactly what he always does n “Being Donovan.”

“I know school is back on track because Donovan is doing his same old routine in class,” LeBlanc said.

Track star Ashley Moran, 14, dubbed “the future Marion Jones” by classmates, said she is happy to be at Bayou Blue because the school has a track team. “At Raceland Middle I would have missed out on something that I love to do … run track,” she said.

Fourteen-year-old Jordan Magallanes is thrilled about the new school, but is less ecstatic about the bus ride there. He said traveling to Raceland Middle School on the school bus gave him an extra 15 minutes of sleep. Magallenes’ classmates have dubbed him “the sleeper.”

Overall, the return to the new school has gone surprisingly smoothly, Dugas said. “Bayou Blue Middle School is in full-swing and teachers and students have come off of the Christmas break ready to ‘rock and roll,’ she said.

Bayou Blue Middle School is officially in session as of Jan. 4. Students expressed excitement to be in a new school with new equipment. Pictured using the new science equipment are seventh grade Life Science students Courtney Foret-Chiasson, Zachary Acosta, Amanda Henry, Dylan Guidry, Emily Pontif and Devin Rodriguez.