It was a not-so-typical first day of school at Manteca High on Monday.
Due to construction, the campus opened that morning exclusively to some 500-plus freshmen.
They were quickly acclimated to their new surroundings, entering into the new gym – the cheer squad provided the enthusiastic greetings – and doing their device exchange coupled with getting their name tags, photos, etc.
The large group of newcomers were also introduced to Principal Megan Peterson and her admin team consisting of Assistant Principal Neil McDannald, Vice Principal Debi Chavez, VP / Athletic Director Eric Reis, Activities Director Stephanie Hjelmstad.
“Get involved,” said MacDannald, as he addressed the ninth graders during the brief rally. “You’ll find that school will be more fun and easier to come to every day.”
Unlike most years when first-year students arrive on campus days before the school-year opener – better known as freshmen orientation – the MHS Class of 2029 instead had “Buffs Begins!”
This was an abbreviated first-day event orchestrated by MHS Leadership class, the Yearbook staff, and Link Crew, according to Mary Ann Tolbert.
The longtime Link Crew advisor has 63 Link Leaders involved to help members of the freshmen class by serving as mentors throughout this school year.
After the brief rally, students were paired up – about 15 to a group – with their Link Leaders and engaged in ice-breaking and other school-related activities.
They were later joined by sophomores, juniors and seniors – they arrived on campus after lunch and had a shorten first- through fourth- period schedule on Day 1 of the 2025-2026 school year.
The challenge for all early on was getting around campus.
Demolition of the older classrooms took place over the summer to make room of a second two-story instructional building featuring 32 classrooms and a media center along Sherman Avenue.
Students had use of the new two-story, 22-classroom building that was also part of the modernization project made possible by voter-approved Measure A school bond.
MUSD Superintendent Clark Burke stopped by the MHS “Buffs Begin!” event.
He and other district officials made their rounds to the other school sites that morning, including Nile Garden, Brock Elliott, and Joshua Cowell.
Like MHS, those three elementary schools are undergoing modernization.
Nile Garden, which will soon a new access road off Union Road, is getting two new eight-classroom buildings featuring integrated learning commons and a 1,300-square-foot shad structure for outdoor instruction.
Brock Elliott and Joshua Cowell will both receive upgrades to support student learning and safety with new multi-purpose buildings and playgrounds equipped with shade structures.
“We’ve had a busy summer,” Burke said.
