Newhall Avenue was lined up with cars Monday morning as parents dropped off their kids at Hart High for the first day of the 2024-25 school year.
Senior Ashley Santillan was walking to the front gate with her sister, Natalie, a freshman. Ashley said she’s looking forward to all of the senior activities throughout the year, like dances and grad night — as well as eventually moving on from high school — while Natalie said she is anxious but excited to meet new friends.
“It’s a new experience,” Natalie said, adding that she is not looking forward to learning to traverse a new campus. “They say high school is like your best years.”
Students weren’t the only ones who were nervous on Monday as classes resumed at Hart, along with the other schools in the William S. Hart Union High School District.
Maria Gutierrez, mother of Hart freshman Nicholas De La Torre, said she may have been more nervous than he was to get the school year rolling.
“I feel like high school is a whole different ballgame,” Gutierrez said. “You know, it’s when you go and start to grow up and you deal with a whole different type of personalities. So, it makes me a little nervous, but he’s very excited to start high school.”
When students walked in the front gates and made their way to the quad, they were greeted by Principal Jason d’Autremont and Jan Daisher, director of special programs and professional development for the Hart district.
Some students needed some help getting directions to their first class, but d’Autremont said he didn’t have to do too much of that after the Associated Student Body leaders showed the new students the way during registration.
Having met many of the new students at orientation, d’Autremont made it a point to remember their names, saying it’s one of the tools he picked up as a teacher and can go a long way.
“Letting them know that you see them and that you value them is something that we really try to do here,” d’Autremont said. “We’ve stressed our teachers today, the first class, the first day really, really matters. Making those connections and making sure that students feel comfortable and safe and supported on campus, because without that, the learning is not going to come as easy to them.”
It was a bit of an interesting morning for d’Autremont, who helped his kids get ready to attend Hart High, the first time he’s had all three of them — a senior, a sophomore and a freshman — at his school at one time. All three are set to play football and lacrosse, he said.
“I don’t know if they really like it as much, but I get to keep tabs on them closer than a lot of parents do,” d’Autremont joked.
There was no new visible signage around the campus to indicate the change in mascot from “Indians” to “Hawks,” but Daisher said she saw some T-shirts being worn by different students with the new mascot.
Students and staff at Hart High voted last year on “Hawks” to end a nearly three-year process that began when the district’s governing board voted in July 2021 to move on from the school’s former mascot, citing a need to move away from a race-based symbol.
One change that will occur in the near future is the replacement of the gym floor. The new floor with references to the new mascot is likely to be ready by the end of September or early October.
Also new this year for Hart High — or perhaps better phrased as “returning to Hart High” — are a rally before the first football game of the year scheduled for Aug. 23 as well as a back-to-school bash that Saturday night.
“We’re really trying to increase the school spirit this year for all students,” d’Autremont said. “And that’s something that hopefully will be a byproduct.”
And while the school year is just getting started, events and activities are already underway.
“Hopefully we can have a good start to the year with a good football season,” d’Autremont said. “We have our first home volleyball game (Tuesday). I know even our show choir’s having the alumni concert on (Saturday) night. So, a lot a lot of fun things going on.”
