Hey kids, you're going to school on Tuesday.
Mother Nature tried her best to help you out, but she couldn't quite pull it off.
You don't even have to pack a lunch, if you don't want. While more than $600,000 worth of food was ruined when school buildings lost power, it's being replaced in time for lunch on opening day.
If you were thinking an earthquake and a hurricane could keep the area's four largest school systems from opening on time for the 2011-12 school year, you were wrong.
Some schools were without power, and there was a little property damage here and there — but nothing so major it will keep you away.
"We'll be open and ready for them on Tuesday," Richmond schools Superintendent Yvonne Brandon said Friday morning at Binford Middle School, where she was helping English teachers Jennifer Hadlock Young and Ausha Espiet set up a classroom.
"I can't wait to get the students back," said Binford's principal, Peter Glessman. "It's too quiet around here without them."
School administrators in Chesterfield, Hanover and Henrico counties said they, too, will be ready to welcome students.
"For the most part, it'll be a normal school day," said Mychael Dickerson, the executive director of communications and community outreach for the Henrico schools.
"Principals have reported that everyone has come in with a real 'pull together' spirit that has enabled Hanover County Public Schools to be well prepared for the opening of school," spokeswoman Carolyn Fletcher said.
Chesterfield schools spokesman Shawn Smith said, "From the hurricane, some of our facilities sustained damage including flooding/water issues. The damage was not substantial (and has been fixed) and the school division will open on time for the first day of school."
None of that is to imply that it has been an easy or routine summer.
The Aug. 23 earthquake led to a delay in the opening of schools in Louisa County. The first day there will be Sept. 12.
Then, Hurricane Irene wreaked havoc throughout the area. In New Kent County, power problems led to a delayed opening, and those students first report on Thursday.
While most local public school students will report on time, there has been much work behind the scenes to replace spoiled food, clean up storm debris and make up for time lost when teachers couldn't get into their classrooms for several days.
No school suffered catastrophic damage, but the loss of power did lead to the loss of a considerable amount of food.
In Chesterfield, Smith said about $500,000 worth of food was ruined. Henrico lost $97,000 in food, Richmond $26,000 and Hanover $4,000.
The natural disasters didn't seem to dampen enthusiasm for a new school year, though.
"Everything will be ready for the first day of school," Fletcher said. "Hanover County Public Schools is fortunate in that many teachers are so eager to prepare for the coming year that many of them visited their classrooms over the summer and began to set up for the new school year. This advance preparation has been particularly valuable this year."
At Binford, Young, the chairwoman of the English department, admitted that she had come in the week before last to get a jump-start.
"So that really paid off," she said. "We're going to be ready. We are ready."
That didn't surprise Brandon.
"I've been really proud of our teachers," she said. "A lot of them came in on their own time anyway to get ready. This is a great group of people."
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