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It was the second day of school for Greenville elementary school, and students were scattered across the playground, soaking in the late August sun. On the swings, some kicked their way closer to the cloudless sky; others scampered around on the multicolored jungle gym. There were shrieks and snacks and one skinned elbow, and the air was fragrant with the freshly laid woodchips that cushioned the students' rapid descent from the slide.

It's the kind of scene Kristy Warren has witnessed countless times. She first came here as a student herself, then returned about 20 years later as a school principal. Since then, in the course of her seven years as the Plumas county assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction, she's made regular visits to the stretch of road where this small northern California town's elementary school and junior-senior high school stand side-by-side.