Middlesex Elementary School students begin the journey of a new school year

Middlesex Elementary School (MES) was buzzing with activity Monday morning for the first day of school.

There were emotional goodbyes at the main entrance. Mothers and fathers watched their children go in the main door. A few mothers followed their children with their eyes until they were gone from sight. Their faces showed the strain of letting go. “This is nerve-wracking for me,” said Allison Parks of Urbanna after her daughter Lailoni Fells had entered the school.

Melissa Ranger of Saluda crouched down next to her son Wesley and kissed him on the cheek. Wesley, 3.5 years old, who was going into pre-kindergarten, went into the school with his older brother Jesse, who is in second grade. There were no tears as Melissa walked away from the school entrance; they would happen when she was alone, she said.

There were quick looks back from some parents, as they walked to the parking lot.

“Mayor of MES”

Inside MES, things quieted down quickly as children lined up to go to their classes.

In a hallway Macy McNamee, the school’s gifted-talented instruction coordinator, called over DaJour Scott, whom she calls the “Mayor of MES.” McNamee said the first grader “checks on everybody… he’s never met a stranger.”

Down the hall a short ways art teacher Vicki Attarado was starting her first day as an elementary teacher. She’d taught middle school for 16 years in Yorktown, but now lives in Deltaville. Children were given a worksheet that asked them questions about themselves and asked them to draw how they felt on the first day of school. A fifth grader drew “a tired emoji, and said she wanted to visit Greenland.

“Mrs. A” as she is known said she could retire but chose to teach art in an elementary school. “I like to work,” she said. “The children are so adorable.”

One more time

Susan Bray was starting her 33rd and final year teaching first grade. She plans to retire to spend more time with grandchildren who are 4 years old and younger. On this final first day of school for Bray, she sat in a rocker with children on a rug at her feet. They clapped hands to count the words in a sentence, and worked on grammar exercises. She read from a book titled, “First Grade Jitters.” However, no one in class seemed jittery.

Calming

Kindergarten teacher Kelsey Eanes and one of her students, Blakelee Anderson, wore their hair in the same way. The class paused on the way to breakfast for a photo. “They are being so good,” said Eanes. Eanes’ room was lit with indirect soft lighting. White twinkle lights were attached to the ceiling. Kindergarten rooms had a wide-screen TV playing soft music and showing under water creatures, like a sea turtle swimming calmly. The TV resembled a giant aquarium.

Mrs. Bleeker’s door was decorated with a sign resembling the metal rock group “AC/DC” logo, except it read “AB/CD.” Under that was written “Back in Class,” a play on the title of their hit “Back in Black.”

Tiffany Hedtke, of Minnesota, by way of Sioux Falls, South Dakota, was in her first day as a guidance counselor, or “student support specialist,” in a public school…