The faces of first graders said it all on the opening day of school at May Roberts Elementary School in Ontario.
One girl beamed as she followed the path from roadway to school entry.
A boy, bearing a backpack, hunched over a bit, a twinge of anxiety crossing his face as he moved toward the door.
In the hallway, two first-grade girls held hands, together scanning teacher names outside classrooms to find where they belonged.
This was no ordinary opening day on Friday, Aug. 16. The arrival of the students marked a dramatic transition for the Ontario School District. For the first time, all the district’s first graders would be in one place, not parceled out among several buildings.
The kindergartners likewise have been assigned to May Roberts, but they weren’t scheduled to start until Tuesday, Aug. 20.
But Principal Kevin Capps and his team were ready.
Teachers technically reported for duty that Monday, but some had been coming to their classrooms for longer. One was unpacking boxes of belongings trucked over from whatever school they worked at last year.
Another was decorating the room. Each teacher stamps a bit of their own personality in the décor. One first grader teacher put up artwork to turn her room into a bit of a Harry Potter zone.
Outside each room, teachers used a bulletin board to post names of every student coming to the class. This wasn’t just some typed list. One teacher used cutouts of ducks. Another used stars. And another tacked paper airplanes on the wall, one for each student with their names on the wings.
Some students and their parents were lined up outside well before the official opening time of 8:30 a.m. They were there to get registered, meaning office workers had to find them a class to join. Nikki Albisu, Ontario school superintendent, stepped in to help.
As the doors opened, staff greeted the youngsters, steering them along a gleaming hallway to the cafeteria. Parents and others could stay with them, and many did. They watched as the youngsters settled down for a quick breakfast – cereal, milk, apple sauce and more.
School employees moved among the tables, checking on students, welcoming them, asking and answering questions.
Then it was time to head for the classroom. In each, teachers had put names to each desk and the first graders scouted the rows to find theirs. Some settled right in, chatting with the boy or girl next to them. Others sat and then looked a bit bewildered, quiet. They quickly got reassurances from their teacher and other school employees.
As class time approached, school employees continued to work to find the right classroom for the right students.
In one, an aide introduced a child named Alva to the teacher.
“I don’t have an Alva,” the teacher replied, and the search for the right class continued.
Finally, it was time for parents and other outsiders to leave.
At 8:55 a.m., the classroom doors closed and the year’s lessons began.
CORRECTION: The young first grader drinking milk in a photograph is Kamilla Cedillo. School officials misidentified her earlier.
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