ELYRIA – Ely Elementary students will be earlier risers come next week as school officials have decided to start the school day early every day until the end of the school year to make up for time lost due to the school`s unexpected closure after a student came down with the H1N1 virus.

The early start will take some getting used to, but Amy Higgins, district spokeswoman, said Wednesday that starting Monday, classes at Ely will begin at 8:15 a.m. – 55 minutes earlier than the normal start time of 9:10 a.m. School will let out at 3:15 p.m., she said. The day normally ends at 3:10 p.m.

“I know this is a bit much for parents to grasp, but this will keep students from having to go further into the summer,” Higgins said. “This is probably the most agreeable plan for everybody. If we weren`t to do it this way, we would look at tacking on an extra five days at the end of the school year.”

Teachers and staff were told of the revised schedule at the end of the school day Wednesday. Soon after, they told school officials they agreed to the new schedule.

Ely students also will go to school for one extra day at the end of the year – attending classes on June 5 when the year was supposed to end June 4.

To accommodate the early schedule, all bus schedules will be adjusted with pickup times coming roughly an hour earlier. Breakfast service will begin at 8 a.m. And, Higgins said, students will be offered a mid-morning snack to help keep them energized through the longer day.

Wednesday marked the first day students and teachers set foot inside the school since health officials shuttered the building after a 9-year-old student was diagnosed with the swine flu virus. Fearing the virus could spread among the children, school officials closed the school for what ended up being seven school days based on a recommendation from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Principal Jack Dibee said energetic children filled the school Wednesday, and all expressed happiness at being back.

“It almost felt like the first day of school all over again,” Dibee said. “A lot of the kids said they were fine the first few days at home, but just wanted to get back to school.”

Once students were back in the building, Dibee held an all-school assembly where he told the kids about swine flu and why the school had to be closed and cleaned.

During the assembly, school nurse Jeanne Hayes stole the show with a lesson on hand washing that included the use of petroleum jelly, black pepper, a couple buckets of water and some liquid hand soap as props.

Higgins said the school with an enrollment of 520 students, normally sees 25 to 30 students absent on any given day, But 70 students were missing Wednesday – about 13 percent of its student body.

“It`s high, but I think once word gets out through the grapevine, everyone will be back and ready to learn,” she said.

Contact Lisa Roberson at 329-7121 or lroberson@chroniclet.com.

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