Beginning of summer classes met with excitement and anticipation as hundreds of students arrive for the first day of the semester.
RANCHO BERNARDO and FALLBROOK — After years of planning and hard work, Palomar College welcomed hundreds of students to the first day of the summer semester at its new education centers in Rancho Bernardo and Fallbrook on Monday, June 11.
The doors opened bright and early, with the first groups of students arriving for morning classes in facilities that have been the focus of intensive preparations in recent months.
“This is an exciting first day of classes at the two new centers,” said Superintendent/President Dr. Joi Lin Blake. “I’m particularly proud of the faculty and staff who have spent countless hours preparing for this moment. It’s a big day for thousands of students—in our district and beyond— who now have better access to Palomar College.”
In Rancho Bernardo, college staff were working hard to ensure that faculty and students had what they needed for a successful launch: “For the opening of a new center, everything went really smoothly,” said Tom Medel, Director of the South Education Center. “We’ve received a lot of positive feedback after our first day.”
With operations running smoothly and classes in full swing, the sense of accomplishment was enriched when new students started pouring in to apply for admission.
“Today was historic for Palomar College, and I’m very excited to be a part of it,” said Ryan Williams, Director of the North Education Center in Fallbrook. “It’s not every day that a college holds its first classes at two new education centers on the same morning.
“I’m extremely proud of the massive team who got these centers up and running for today,” Williams added. “Everything ran very smoothly and I talked to several students who were quite happy with their dramatically reduced commute times from Temecula and Murrieta to the North Education Center.”
Many also said they were pleasantly surprised by how nice the Fallbrook center is in the first phase of its development, he said.
Although Monday was the official first day of class, Palomar is offering a variety of courses with later start times throughout the summer. See website for dates and locations.