NORFOLK - From the sounds of things in the kindergarten wing at Norwood-Norfolk Central School Wednesday afternoon, one would have thought yesterday was the first day of school.

That doesn’t come until today but as the district hosted its annual kindergarten open house Wednesday afternoon excitement was in the air coming from parents, teachers and students.

Celeste Merriman, 5, and Alexa LaSalle, 5, both of Norwood, are among those enter kindergarten today.

Both girls said they were looking forward to the first day of school.

Celeste said she was looking forward to “playing with my new friends” and seeing her old friends from last year when she attended Universal Pre-Kindergarten.

Alexa gave a similar answer.

“I’m excited about meeting some new friends and maybe learning a little,” she said. “It’s the last day of summer vacation.”

Celste’s mom, Shannon, said she was also looking forward to the start of the new school year.

“Mom’s excited too,” Ms. Merriman said, explaining that now both of her girls will in school.

“It’s just the two of them right now,” she said, but they already have two baby boys picked out for us.”

For Alexa’s dad, Randy, today marks the first day of kindergarten for his first child.

“It’s really nice,” he said. “She loves it. She actually didn’t like summer vacation. All she talked about was when school was going to begin again.”

While Ms. Merriman’s girls have both been in the school before, she said she still finds the open house beneficial, although more so for children and families who may be new to the community.

“It’s definitely a good thing, especially for new people who have moved to the neighborhood,” she said. “That way they’re not just walking into the school.”

The excitement from students and parents was also matched by the teachers, who said they’re ready for the year to begin.

“We’ve been in here most of the summer,” said Donna M. Myers, who co-teaches a class with Trina Sheehan, and said she’s been teaching kindergarten for 20 years.

“I love the excitement,” Ms. Myers said. “Even the kids who are a little bit nervous are still excited.”

Teacher Ann M. Burrows agreed.

“I’m so excited,” she said.

When asked what the best part of teaching kindergarten was, Ms. Burrows replied, “The children, I love being with the children.”

Thousands of readers like you have made Northern New York Newspapers the number one ranked website* for local news and sports coverage in the north country.

You can continue on to this article in a few seconds, or you can visit one of our websites:

• Watertown Daily Times
• The Ogdensburg Journal
• Daily Courier-Observer