Five-year-old Madaline Simms found herself surrounded by boys at Crenshaw Christian Academy. Her kindergarten class only had one other girl in it. Simms made friends with all of her classmates and said she looked forward to meeting a new one on the way.

“I was nervous about my first day because I’d never met my teacher,” she said. “But, I love my new teacher. She had some play makeup for us.”

John David Mills loved his first day but made no mention of makeup. “I loved my first day,” he said. “I just couldn’t wait until kindergarten. I liked playing on the playground and I liked the book station.”

The day did have its challenges. Mills was not a fan of a learning station that required practicing how to write his name.

Thomas Brady Kilpatrick said he just loved the whole school. He enjoyed getting acquainted with the learning stations and had picked a favorite one by the end of the day. Kilpatrick said he loved the one where he filled in a chart with numbers.

Monday was also a first for kindergarten teacher Amber McInvale. She said the day turned out better than she expected. Her most stressful period came at the end of the day, shuffling students from class to daycare and remembering where everyone was supposed to be.

By 2 p.m., preschoolers at Luverne Elementary had settled in to their new environment. They gathered together on the playground and discussed the morning’s events as if they were a distant memory.

“I was scared to come here,” said Britini Barber. “I tried not to cry.”

“I wasn’t crying,” said Cannon Albritton.

The class of 18 only had three criers, hardly enough to call it a bad first day, said tacher Isabella Harrell.

“Today went great. It was a very proactive day,” she said. “They learned a lot and caught on quickly to the new routine.”

The county’s youngest students learned to stand in line, were read a story about the first day of school, spent ample time on the playground and survived naptime.

Jamie Morgan said naptime was her favorite part of the day. She wasn’t the only one.

“I didn’t sleep. I still was awake,” Isabella Mount said.

Carter Lowery was not a fan of the midday break. His favorite part of the day occurred before he arrived at school. For the first time, he got to hop on the school bus with his big brother, JJ. The siblings sat together and listened to music.

Savanna Strickland made several friends on her first day, but school was still an adjustment for her. “I miss my mama,” she said.

All in all, Harrell was encouraged by the uneventful first day. “I’m looking forward to a wonderful year.”