CRANBERRY TWP - The first day of classes went smoothly at Rowan Elementary School on Wednesday despite an influx of students over the past three weeks, said the district spokeswoman.

Linda Andreassi, Seneca Valley School District's public relations coordinator, said the school has more than 900 students in kindergarten through fourth grade. She said Rowan Elementary in Cranberry Township took on about 45 new students and Connoquenessing Valley Elementary School in Zelienople added 21. She said new residents were still registering their children at both schools through the second day of school.

"We have been monitoring the situation, and because we are committed to low class size, we have opened two new classrooms at Rowan, one in second grade and one in third grade," Andreassi said. "And we've added another third-grade class at Connoquenessing Valley Elementary."

Dean Berkebile, school board president, said the three new classes necessitated the hiring of three new teachers by the board at its Monday night meeting. He said although the teachers were hired at the last minute, the district was ready for the new classes.

"The interview process had already identified the three applicants that had successfully interviewed," said Berkebile. "I think the unexpected, last-minute growth was handled well, as the regular classroom teachers were in place and running from the first day."

Andreassi said the rising enrollment at Rowan parallels the increase in housing units in Seven Fields and Cranberry. She said there are 33 housing plans in Cranberry Township alone. All of the elementary students in those plans, plus those living in Seven Fields, attend Rowan.

Andreassi said student enrollment has increased steadily in booming Cranberry, and to respond to that, the district has placed seven modular classrooms at Rowan in the past few years.

The district has bought 153 acres along Ehrman Road in Cranberry with the intent of building a school there, but that project recently was pulled off a list of projects the district plans to finance through borrowing.

"If the growth continues, we need to prepare for more construction," said Berkebile. "Expansion at Ehrman Road will ultimately be a necessity, and we have begun working with a demographer to determine the optimal scale."

Andreassi said the school board will face that building project as a separate issue. She said construction of a school there would take from three to five years to complete, and the grade levels in that school have not yet been decided.

"The school district has hired a demographer to study the areas where we expect growth so we can prepare a plan for the Ehrman Road property," said Andreassi.