About 33,000 students in the Poway Unified School District returned to classes Thursday in Poway, Rancho Penasquitos, Rancho Bernardo and 4S Ranch, where the newest and final school planned by the district opened.

With 25 elementary schools, six middle schools and six high schools, PUSD is the third largest school district in the county, and all but two of its schools opened for the fall semester Thursday.

What could have been a logistical nightmare instead was a smooth opening day, said district spokeswoman Sharon Raffer.

"Everything went really well today," said Raffer, who visited many of the campuses. "First days are really special. Everyone looked extremely happy."

Students returned to a district that is growing, yet smaller in some ways. Superintendent Donald Phillips, who attended the opening of Del Norte High School in 4S Ranch, said the district must operate with 300 fewer positions this year.

"We've gone through some deep budget cuts," he said. "But people are coming back energized. We're going to look at new ways of doing work and keep focused on student achievement."

Among the cuts were 90 teaching positions. In kindergarten through third grade, the reductions caused classroom sizes to increase from 20 students to 23 or 24, Phillips said. Freshmen classes have increased from 20 students to up to 40.

Despite the cuts, the district is opening a new school this semester and, in the past few years, has added classrooms, technology, playground equipment and other modernization projects through two school bonds.

Students returning to Pomerado, Sundance, Sunset Hills, Turtleback, Deer Canyon and Canyon View elementary schools found construction work still in progress.

At Shoal Creek Elementary, students still crossed Ted Williams Parkway to get to school Thursday, but a federally funded project has been approved to build a bridge over the busy road, and a celebration about the upcoming project will be held sometime this fall.

At Del Norte High School, the final school planned to open for the district, hundreds of freshmen and sophomores gathered at the new stadium for a welcome from principal Greg Mizel and a warm-up dance and Polynesian chant from counselor Jocbethem Tahapary, who had students swaying and laughing while singing "too-dee-tah."

A short while later, Mizel's voice echoed through the stadium as he rolled in on a skateboard in front of the grandstands.

"Did you know that a flea can jump 250 times the length of its body?" he said, addressing the students as Nighthawks, the school's new mascot. "Turn to the person next to you and say, 'I'm already learning.'"

The flea comment led to discussions about how fleas and elephants are trained, and then to thoughts about the correlation of expectations and outcomes. Mizel summed up with an inspiring talk about how the teen years are not a vacation, but a jumping-off point to adulthood and responsibilities.

"Fleas were made to jump, elephants to roam, and Nighthawks, they were made to soar," he said.

Inside the stadium, sophomores Nicholas Vallejo, James Senior, Clayton Gannaway and Ryan Podgurski said they chose to attend the school, which is accepting students from outside its boundaries to build enrollment in its first years.

"It was inspiring," Nicholas said about Mizel's talk.

"I'm just excited because it's a new school, and it's only freshmen and sophomores (for now)," James said. "And we liked the principal. He used to be at our school."

"It's cool," Clayton said about the new campus, which he liked because of its open, circular design. "And I like the soccer and the football fields."

"It's just a really nice school," Ryan said. "It's a great opportunity."

The public is invited to see the new school from 2 to 6 p.m. Saturday at a community fair that will feature tours, food, music and games. The campus is at 16601 Nighthawk Lane, San Diego.

The street is new and does not appear on most maps or on Google Maps or Mapquest. To reach the school from Interstate 15, take Camino del Norte west and turn left at Lone Quail Road.

Call staff writer Gary Warth at 760-740-5410.