Celebrating its 50th anniversary, Blair Oaks schools marked a first day described as smooth and exciting by administrators.
No major changes occurred, except the new assigned parking for all Blair Oaks High School students who drive to school, Principal Gary Verslues said.
The assigned parking spots are meant to ease the organization of student parking at the high school. It went really well on the first day, he said, except some parents parked in the high school's back lot so they could walk their child to the elementary school. That left some high school students without a parking space for a while, but Verslues doesn't expect that to be a typical occurrence.
To the parent's credit, he said, the lot isn't identified as a student lot.
A new ADA ramp is also being built at the entrance of the high school and is nearly finished, he said.
"It's very rewarding knowing that any student or parent or visitor coming to our school can come to the main office without using chairlifts," he said. "It's rewarding we have that for those that need the ramp."
About a dozen freshmen students were confused on where to go during the day, but overall everything went well, Verslues said.
Superintendent Jim Jones agreed the first day went really well. As usual, there was increased traffic at the schools with parents wanting to drop their kids off and walk them into their classes on the first day.
He wasn't aware of any bus delays and described it as one of the smoothest first days of school the district has had.
"When we got done this morning, we felt really good about how things went," Jones said. "More importantly, we felt good about learning and teaching. It was exciting to see all kids excited to be back."
For the first time in district history, enrollment topped 1,200 with 1,202 students on the first day - 30 more students than the first day of school last year. Jones expects the enrollment will fluctuate as families move around in the first couple weeks.
The beginning of the school year marks the district's 50th anniversary and the 8,701th school day since opening in August 1966. District officials plan to have a celebration in October and have coined the theme "Growing Up Green."
Student Council President Emilee Jones, a senior, also described the first day as "smooth" and hopes her last year is her best.
"It's a blessing, honestly," she said. "I've been here since kindergarten, and it's emotional but overall exciting."
One of her goals this year is to spread positivity and school pride during the year and make the freshmen class feel welcome.
Superintendent Jones said one of his favorite parts of the day was taking a picture with this year's kindergartners, the class of 2028. Last year, he met with the parents of the incoming kindergarten class and joked Blair Oaks isn't much different than the TV show, "Little House on the Prairie." The three pillars are church, home and school, he said.
"It's those three things working together," he said. "We're very fortunate we have support in those three areas, and we try to do our part and count on support from other areas. The first day is full of excitement and anticipation for what this year is going to bring."