It’s the only way to get through the school year
by Paul Koepp, Staff Writer
Families throughout the school district have been getting ready to juggle their hectic schedules, in preparation for today’s (Thursday) first day of school.
For Patti Lagarenne, the former president of PTO at Indian Fields — and mom of Janine, entering fourth grade at Indian Fields, and twin sons Matthew and Kevin, entering seventh grade at Crossroads South — there is only one way to get through the school year: “One day at a time.”
”We cherish the summer and the family time we share, because there’s not a lot of time for that during the school year, maybe an evening here or there,” she said. “Once school starts, the whole structure of your days and evenings changes.”
She said she’s lucky that her kids’ schools start and end at roughly the same time, although her sons may have to stay late at the middle school for after-school clubs and activities.
Ms. Lagarenne works 20 hours a week for the state Department of Education, so she has a schedule that can be adjusted to the school day and her children’s transportation needs.
”If my job wasn’t so flexible, I couldn’t have taken it,” she said.
Asked how she thinks families manage with two parents working full-time, she said, “I have no idea how they get by.”
Nancy Asher-Shultz, the co-president of the Constable PTO — and mom of Jessica, who is entering 10th grade at South Brunswick High School, and Michael, who is entering fourth grade at Constable — knows what it’s like to be in a family with two full-time working parents.
Asked how she manages getting her kids to all of their activities, she said with a laugh, “Not really well, sometimes.”
”It’s a challenge. My husband and I both work full-time, and we’re often going in different directions. We do a lot of carpooling,” she said, adding that the best word to sum up their schedule would be “whirlwind.”
Eliot Runyon has a daughter, Leah, who will be a high school sophomore, and a son, Jesse, who is entering eighth grade at Crossroads North. With his job taking him to Manhattan every day, he is happy that a couple of things make his family’s juggling act a little easier.
Living across from the high school, Leah can walk to school or easily catch a ride, and Jesse usually has soccer practice or another activity until his mom gets off from work as a substitute school nurse.
”My kids are older now, so they’re pretty much self-sufficient,” Mr. Runyon said.
He said that, because his kids’ activities keep them busy year-round, the school year’s packed schedule is not much of a change.
”The only thing is they need to go to bed at a decent time,” he said.
Ms. Asher-Shultz works in the Marlboro Township schools as a psychologist, and she said the start of a new school year is tough for her, too.
”I dread it a little, more because of me going back,” she said. “But after a few days, it’s really great.”
She said her daughter was worried about balancing tough high school classes and the 15 to 20 hours she will spend playing the vibes in the high school’s award-winning marching band. Jessica just got back from a week of band camp in Sussex County and has been practicing with the band all summer.
But Ms. Asher-Shultz said it’s all good preparation for college. Her oldest child, Allison, now a sophomore math student in the honors program at Penn State University, was also in the SBHS marching band, and Ms. Asher-Shultz said it “forces the kids to get organized.”
”I talk to my kids about study habits and strategies and how to structure yourself. Academics come first,” she said. “We have a lot of time-management discussions.”
Ms. Asher-Shultz said that her second year of sending her daughter to college is a little easier because she knows Penn State is a good fit.
”The first year, you just don’t know and you hope she’s in the right place,” she said.
With one child in college, she appreciates the quality of the education students receive in South Brunswick.
”It eased her transition to college. She was able to skip a lot of early level classes because of her AP credits,” she said. “She was so well prepared.”
Ms. Lagarenne agreed that her kids get a good education, but this year is bringing some confusion. She said her sons in middle school don’t know what unit they’re in and didn’t receive any information on what to buy to prepare for school.
”They’re going into seventh grade blind, which makes us a little nervous, she said. “It’s not what we’ve been used to in the past, because they have no real tangible information. It’s going to be a shock on Thursday.”
She also said she regrets that the school district cut the Wishes and Dreams program, which in the past let her kids meet their elementary school teachers in the summer and get over some of their first-day anxieties. For her daughter Janine, not being able to meet her new teacher and see her classroom before school starts “has made a lot of things worse,” Ms. Lagarenne said.
But she has some motherly words of wisdom as her kids start a new year.
”I tell them it’s a great time to turn over a new leaf and get rid of some bad habits,” she said.
Mr. Runyon said that his kids are used to buying the “same old stuff” for school supplies and hearing the same speech he gives them every year.
”I tell them not to look at it as a chore. Getting an education, that’s what your job is, and it will pay off in the future,” he said. “I also tell them to take advantage of opportunities like sports and extracurricular activities. You have responsibility, but you don’t have the real responsibilities yet, so have fun with it.”

