At Wheeler Avenue School, Jill Giglio stayed for Coffee, Tea and Tears, a program organized by the PTA for new parents. Giglio’s son is starting first-grade after attending kindergarten at Willow Road School last year. She said he was a bit nervous at first, but was fine once he saw some of his friends.

Giglio said she wants to be an active participant in the school, and that will start by being a parent volunteer in her son’s class.

Fifth-graders at Clear Stream Avenue said they were glad to be back after two months off. Ashton Hill said he was happy to see his friends and is looking forward to improving his math skills this year. Sarah Nagamootoo stocked up on school supplies, including a pencil case shaped like a shoe. She might need a lot of pencils for the multiplication and long division she will be doing this year.

Classmate Elijah Acevedo is also ready to accepted more knowledge. “I wanted to be in fifth grade,” he said, “because I wanted to learn a lot of new stuff.”