It's Back to School For Area Students

Alexandria City schools were back in action on Tuesday as students began the 2010-11 school year following a summer marked by record-high temperatures.

With T.C. Williams High School and the city's middle schools reopening their doors, local streets were once again teeming with yellow buses, while students congregated early in the morning at their bus stops.

Entire families migrated toward Maury Elementary School on Russell Road prior to the 8 a.m. opening bell to guide their children down sidewalk routes, take photographs and see them off to their first day of classes.

A majority of parents said their children were ready and excited to kickoff the school year.

Lili DeSimone saw her daughter, Mica, break her summer routine and wake up completely prepared to start fourth grade.

"She has been waking up really late every day this summer and this morning there was no need to rouse her out of bed," DeSimone said. "She had her uniform out and she already dropped off all her school things with the teacher on Friday, so she was ready."

Gary and Melissa Feld, whose children Reagan, 8, and Audrey, 6, were starting their first day at Maury School, could barely contain their kids' excitement.

"There was no hassle getting them up, they ate breakfast in record time, they were dressed," Melissa Feld said. "They were yelling at us, 'C'mon! Let's go!'"

Thomas Crockett was one of many parents who brought the family dog along for the morning stroll to school. His youngest child, Elizabeth, started Kindergarten on Tuesday, marking the first time all three of his kids were attending Maury School simultaneously. Sarah Katherine Crockett began third grade on Tuesday, and her older brother Patrick started his final year at Maury as a fifth-grader.

"[Elizabeth] has been around her other siblings and she knows the drill, so I think she's ready," Thomas Crockett said. "I'm very excited for her. We're ready for this to begin."

With a relatively small enrollment of 319 students for the 2009-10 school year, the Maury School community is tightly knit. Students were seen hugging principal Lucretia Jackson and other administrators as they hopped off their busses. Parents were also reacquainting themselves with each other and their children's friends.

Paige Fronabarger, whose twins Katherine and Kendall were kicking off their final year at Maury, admitted there was something bittersweet about the day.

"It's fifth grade, so there will be a transition for us next year [when they head to middle school]," Fronabarger said. "I think we'd like to stay [at Maury] forever. If we could keep them in fifth grade, we would."

Kim Reyes said her son Ryan, 7, woke up early to shower and play with his Legos before starting second grade. He received a rude awakening when he found he wasn't allowed to turn on the television to watch his morning shows.

"He was a little disappointed about that," Kim Reyes said.

Was she excited about seeing him walk through the front doors at Maury again?

"Absolutely," she said. "I've already got a whole day lined up."