Canyon Rim Elementary Opens With a Flourish

Yellow construction tape still surrounds some rooms and workers are still installing pipes and landscaping, but Canyon Rim Elementary School opened Monday to official fanfare.

The school’s 560 founding students gathered with their parents and Orange Unified School District officials in the front of the $5.2-million school, each class taking a turn at raising the flag. They ended with a round of “This Land Is Your Land.”

The 23 classes at Canyon Rim, which opened for kindergarten through fourth grade, have been farmed out to four schools since year-round classes started in July.

Principal Margaret Van Eck, who had been running from one school to another, was among the happiest of celebrants. “The whole process has been exciting,” she said. “It’s taken a whole lot of flexibility. Our community and our teachers have been wonderful.”

The school was expected to open by July, but the discovery of an earthquake fault and a contractor’s bankruptcy caused a delay, district officials said.

The newest school in the Orange district is already crowded. Designed before the state program to reduce class sizes, the campus already includes three portable classrooms and will never be able to offer sixth grade, Assistant Supt. Neil McKinnon said.

But it does have all the modern necessities: computers in every classroom, enough wiring to access the Internet and the district’s first computerized library.

Parents cited concerns about the site--the huge kindergarten class of 140 overflowed into portables--but most seemed relieved to be done with car-pooling schedules to remote schools.

“It’s been a hassle, but it’s been worth the wait,” said parent Tamara Bullock.