Tuesday’s transition to the newly renovated Brookhaven HighSchool went as smooth as the new paint on the walls with fewhitches reported.

“I think by in large it’s gone well, but I wouldn’t be truthfulif I didn’t say it hadn’t been a little chaotic,” said BHSPrincipal Roy Balentine.

Students and teachers were a little disoriented at times as theytried to locate their classrooms. A map handed out at the beginningof the day provided some assistance.

Also to help with the move, students and teachers met at 8 a.m.in their regularly scheduled classes at “Trailer Park High” andwalked over in groups to their new classrooms.

“I came here for the tour last week, so I kind of knew whereeverything was already, and that helped,” said Senior ShuntaBrooks.

For the students and teachers who did not attend the dedicationceremony and open house, they wandered around the building on theirown tours between classes and during lunch.

“They have done a great job on this building. It’s beautiful. Ijust can’t get over it,” said BHS Basketball Coach Dan Presleywhile admiring the school with other teachers during a breakbetween classes.

The students and teachers alike spent the day in awe of the newfacility.

“It makes me feel proud to go to Brookhaven High School,” saidsenior Laurence Morris, taking time to mention how thankful he wasto the community and school board for the work.

Some of the noted features that impressed the students were thenew desks, large classrooms and big windows.

“I like it because it’s real spacious, and there’s so manywindows that let in a lot of light,” said Amanda Lynch, a senior atBHS. “It doesn’t feel crowded anymore.”

Teachers said the additions and new wings of BHS would maketheir job of educating the children of Brookhaven much easierbecause of added conveniences, such as Internet access in theclassrooms.

“Even the fact that there are a lot of bathrooms will make ourjob a lot easier,” said French Teacher Allison Litten, explainingthat more bathrooms mean less distance for students to travel awayfrom the classroom.

Other teachers pointed out how it will make their jobs betterbecause of the pride that comes from working in such astate-of-the-art facility.

“I’m excited. It’s wonderful to be in here,” said Dorothy Quinn,special resources teacher.

A few of the students noted it would take some time to get usedto such a significant change.

“I think it’s different, and we will grow to like it,” saidSenior Sam Sones.

Many of the seniors said they were honored to be part of thefirst graduating class. They were glad to at least be able to havetwo months of classes in the new facility.

Students were so excited about the day that they finally got tomove in they hardly noticed a few bumps along the way.

The school’s air conditioning system is climate-controlled by acomputer, which will not be in until Wednesday. However, schoolofficials were able to override the systems and manually controlthe heating and cooling in the building.

BHS’ bell system was also not engaged Tuesday. That was nothingnew to students, because the trailers were not equipped with bellseither.

“I think we need about a week in here to get everything set up,and it will work like clock work,” said Balentine.

Some changes that will take longer than a week to completeinclude moving the library and art classrooms to the new building.They require more work and will remain the manufactured buildingsfor an undetermined amount of time.

He said despite the changes in the students’ way of life, theyseem to have adjusted well.

“I’ve been real pleased with the way they came in and handledthemselves,” said Balentine.