SPENCER — For Misty Smith, dropping her son, Mason, 5, off for his first day of school at North Rowan Elementary was bittersweet.
“I’m a little stressed and a little anxious, but I’m mostly happy because he’s always wanted to go to kindergarten,”she said.
Smith said leaving her firstborn was difficult, but she imagines she’ll be even more emotional when her 3-year-old daughter, Alexis, starts school.
“I still have my little one at home now so it won’t be too bad, but when she goes I don’t know what I’ll do,” she said.
Despite mom’s fears, Mason didn’t seem a bit nervous this morning — he was ready to make new friends.
“I feel like I’m at home,” he said.
Zary’ll Fair, 5, was accompanied to school by her mother, Ebony Sifford, this morning.
“I feel like I’m about to cry, but I’ve been holding it in,” Ebony Sifford said. “I wish I could just sit here with her all day.”
Although Zary’ll graduated from Kiddieland Kindergarten’s pre-kindergarten program last spring, she was still adjusting to kindergarten this morning.
“I’m nervous because I’ve never been here before,” she said.
Third-grader Tyshia Miller was all smiles as she arrived at school with her sister, fourth-grader Tori, brother, first-grader Tyreze, and mother, Chrissy Caldwell.
The children showed off the new shoes they got in preparation for the start of class.
“I was ready to come back,” Tyshia said. “I was talking about it all summer.”
Scott Adcock, the new principal at North Elementary, said the morning went off without a hitch.
“It’s been a good morning,” he said. “It’s always great to see the kids coming in.”
Nearly 20,000 students headed back to school in Rowan County today, including more than 400 at North Elementary.
Read the compete story about the first day of class in Friday’s Post. Send your first -day thoughts and photos to scampbell@salisburypost.com.