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New school year begins in Riverhead

BARBARAELLEN KOCH PHOTO
Roanoke Avenue Elementary School principal Thomas Payton gives
directions to Amari Funn, a kindergarten student, Tuesday morning. Mr.
Payton is in his first year as principal of the school.

Tuesday marked back-to-school day for the some 4,800 students in the Riverhead Central School District.
Aside from a new superintendent of schools, Nancy Carney,  there were some other changes in store for students and faculty that included the switching of two elementary school principals.
Debra Rodgers, who has been Roanoke Avenue Elementary School principal since 2004, took the helm as Phillips Avenue Elementary School principal, while Tom Payton, who was appointed as Phillips Avenue’s principal in 2005, became Roanoke Avenue’s principal.
Mr. Payton stood outside the Roanoke school Tuesday morning greeting pint-sized students as they arrived by foot or hopped off those big yellow buses