See joy, anxiety and ‘a lot of smiling faces’ as school starts in Sacramento-area district

Students arrived for the first day of classes at Williamson Elementary School in Rancho Cordova on Thursday.

When second-grader Davis Cottrell, son of Principal Leslee Cottrell, saw his friend Pharoah Jennings, he immediately wanted to show off his new water bottle and pencil case. While the boys played in front of the school, other students and families arrived, first in a trickle then in a cacophonous wave of hugs, photos and fist bumps with parents and instructors.

Principal Leslee Cottrell, Davis’ mother, said some children were anxious but she and other Folsom Cordova Unified School District employees did their best to create a warm, welcoming environment where students and families could ask questions and meet staff members.

“I saw some, you know, of course, some nervous kids (on the) first day,” Leslee Cottrell said. “Some kids that maybe just rolled out of bed because they forgot it was the first day of school. But mostly just a lot of smiling faces, lots of hugs today.”

Bianca Rodrigues, whose 4-year-old son Zyaire King Jacob Gooden is entering transitional kindergarten, took advantage of the opportunity to connect her son with his instructor, Jamie Emerick. Rodrigues said Gooden was a premature baby — weighing 1 pound at birth — so she is excited to see him take the next step in his educational journey.

“To see this day is actually a lot to us,” Rodrigues said. “Whatever he’s ready for, we’re ready for.”

As the sun rose higher in the sky and the final stragglers arrived to start their day, parents waved misty-eyed goodbyes and teachers corralled new pupils toward their classrooms to start class.

“Every day you bring your child to school is a day that they can do one more thing in their future. It opens one more door for them,” Leslee Cottrell said. “We want our students to have choices. We want them to be able to say, ‘I want to do that,’ not, ‘I have to do that,’ with their future.”