CAPITAL REGION — Happily or reluctantly, students stepped off of buses and headed back to school Wednesday in several area districts.

Under bright sunshine that felt more like June weather, they headed off to find their classrooms, greet friends and meet their new teachers.

At the Shenendehowa Central School District in Clifton Park, many of the younger students — especially those let out of classrooms for playground activity at mid-morning — seemed enthusiastic about opening day.

“It’s good,” Billy Marchewka, a first-grader at Karigon Elementary School, said about returning to school. “I had a good summer; I went to Rhode Island. The thing I don’t like about school is homework, but my sister will help me, or I’ll do it on the bus.”

The Barkley MicroSociety Magnet School in Amsterdam was one of many throughout the Capital Region to open its doors on Wednesday to start the new school year.
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Calla Schultz, 6, rose early to prepare for first grade at Karigon Elementary.

“I got up around a little after 6 o’clock because I had to take a shower and get ready,” said Schultz, who was wearing a brand new pink outfit. “I had tacos and applesauce and raisins for lunch, so my day’s been good so far.”

Shenendehowa Superintendent of Schools L. Oliver Robinson spoke with staff members on opening day, urging them to “stand up” for important priorities, including helping each child find his or her voice and sense of significance. He also reminded them that they are constantly contending with state assessments, increased accountability for academic improvement and public scrutiny of their efforts.

Shenendehowa students making the leap from middle school to high school will be helped through the transition with a new freshman seminar program designed to enhance the ninth-grade experience by focusing on study and organizational skills. At a time when some students begin to feel anxiety about the demands of high school, the seminar is designed to help students set goals and manage time while at the same time stressing the importance of giving back to the local community.

In groups of 10, students will attend the seminar for five consecutive days each quarter for a total of 20 class periods in their freshman year. About 220 freshmen will participate.

At the other end of the spectrum, Shenendehowa kindergartners started their school year of half-day classes with their parents in tow.

“Kids like school today,” Karigon Elementary School Principal Gregory Wing said. “It’s not like the old days where kids dreaded it and even seeing the principal in the halls was a scary thing.”

Saratoga Springs City School District officials said youngsters aren’t the only ones who should hit the books this fall. Nearly 220 continuing education programs will be offered this fall and more than 11,000 people are expected to enroll.

“We have the largest program in the Capital Region, and it’s for people of all ages,” Shirley Neander, secretary for the continuing education program, said. “Fall is the time kids go back to school, vacation is all over and everyone’s thoughts turn to learning something new and exciting.”

Classes this year includes mastering magic tricks, writing a genealogy, do-it-yourself cruise planning, using power tools, coin collecting and experiencing the New Zealand wine trail.

“Basic computer classes are still popular with older adults, but people in the work force are taking more advanced Excel programming courses,” Neander said. “We do see men enrolling; some take cooking, and one man learned to crochet. Men tend more toward woodworking and furniture restoration. There’s also a good number of parents taking classes with their kids, like learning Italian or something the kids are doing in school that the parents want to keep up with.”

At the Greater Amsterdam School District, officials decided to change two elementary schools into magnet schools this year, creating the William H. Barkley MicroSociety and the William B. Tecler Arts in Education magnet schools. Magnet schools allow families to choose their school through a lottery system, which can cause transportation problems for the district because children have to be bused out of their normal neighborhoods.

Superintendent Thomas Perillo said he hadn’t heard of any problems with transportation Wednesday morning.

“There are no transportation problems yet, and that normally doesn’t happen,” Perillo said.

Children were given color-coded passes that correlated to the color of their bus, which let teachers and administrators know quickly where each child was supposed to end up.

While administrators might have been calm, some parents were scrambling Wednesday morning.

“It’s been crazy. I’ve had to get three other children off to school. The buses have been late, and now I don’t know where to go,” said Margaret Burns, whose son Dylan was attending kindergarten at Barkley.

Other local districts, including the Schenectady City School District, Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake and Ballston Spa, will welcome students back to school today.