With the Ring of a Bell, It’s Back to School

Norcross Elementary School was buzzing this morning, as administrators flitted between groups of teachers, walkie-talkies crackling, and students filed in with wide-eyed anticipation. 

“Everybody’s very excited,” said Norcross Elementary Principal Dora Hill. “The parents were here bright and early!” Hill said that overspill from registration meant that many families showed up this morning as early as 7 a.m., with freshly clothed kids in tow, hoping to iron out the details on the first day.

Mayra Zuniga was one of those parents—and she needed one more piece of paperwork, so she’d have to come back the next day. She said the extra day of anticipation would be tough for her new kindergartener. “He was so excited,” she said. “He really wanted to come.” She said she wondered if a meltdown would happen on the big day, but he had been doing just fine.

Principal Hill said that the final registration numbers are not in, but that she expects that they are either “on the mark” or slightly more than expected after Thursday’s registration and the morning rush. 

At 8:20 a.m., cars were backed down the driveway. Students decamped from the big yellow buses with reasonable order and parents crowded around the front office, dropping off supplies, turning in missing papers and more.

The busses rolled in with no major problems. “That’s actually unusual for the first day,” said Assistant Principal Polly Green, waiting on one last bus as the 8:50 a.m. start time approached, new student walking by quietly.

It seemed like the new batch of kindergarteners was almost nervous, said the Norcross Elementary principal.

This year, the school has a few upgrades that will help the business of learning get done, said Hill. The school has a newly expanded media center and some refurbished classrooms, in addition to the three-story building that opened up in December.

Right on time, at 8:50 a.m. the bell rang. A cheerful woman’s voice piped through to all the students, sitting in anticipation in their new classrooms: “We have great expectations for you this year.”