‘First day butterflies’ as thousands of Sonoma County students head back to school

Andrea Jensen sat on a bench Thursday outside Riebli Elementary in Santa Rosa for a bittersweet moment, watching her daughter, Madi, scamper around on a play structure several yards away before her first day of kindergarten.

“She’s my last one, so I’m kind of sad,” Jensen said. She has two kids — a son starting sixth grade, and Madi, who seemed unfazed as she careened across the monkey bars.

Madi is among nearly 30,000 Sonoma County students who returned to school Thursday.

This year, schools across Sonoma County are starting without the COVID-19 restrictions of the past two years, which saw remote learning as well as masks and social distancing mandates.

Sonoma County schools will follow California Department of Public Health guidelines on COVID-19, which means students will be encouraged, not required, to wear masks, get vaccinated and frequently check for symptoms and test, said Eric Wittmershaus, director of communications for the Sonoma County Office of Education.

Nan Taylor, a special education kindergarten teacher at Brook Hill Elementary in Santa Rosa, said despite it being her 11th year teaching, she still had “first day butterflies.”

Holding a small child’s hand, Taylor said with masks now optional, she’s especially excited to see more of her young students’ faces, which prompted the child to gleefully blow raspberries at her and jump up and down.

A few blocks away at Montgomery High School, the bell rang across the campus and a sea of both unmasked and masked students either headed to classrooms or rushed to the administration office to figure out their schedules.

In the office, freshman Francisco Balam, 15, said he felt nervous earlier as he picked out what to wear. Having arrived, he said he was now feeling sort of lost and wished he had a map as he headed to class.

Despite adjusting to a new school, he said going into this year “feels a little more normal than what we’re used to from the past two years.”

Montgomery High School Principal Adam Paulson said it’s a huge relief to have a “normal” school year after years of catastrophic wildfires and the pandemic, which caused trauma and major disruptions in students’ lives.

The learning loss over the past couple years is evident, though hard to quantify, Paulson said. But, “the students are resilient and I think they’ll bounce back.”

After the pandemic, the importance of social and emotional learning curriculum in schools has come to light, he said.

Paulson hopes planned social and emotional learning sessions throughout the year will foster a healthy school culture based on mindfulness, respect and what it means to be a Viking — the school’s mascot. Most importantly, it will help students and teachers get to know each other and their stories, he said.

Emily Todd, principal at Riebli Elementary, was all smiles as she greeted parents and their children.

“Today is a special day for me too,” she said. This was her son’s first day of transitional kindergarten at Riebli.

While emotions ran high in the kindergarten yard, most seemed to be coming from parents.

“I’m about ready to cry, but holding it together,” said Clariza Sandoval, as she and her husband waited in line to hand off their 5-year-old, Riley, to her kindergarten teacher. Their 10-year-old son, West, stood quietly next to them. This is both kids’ first year at Riebli.

As the kindergartners filed inside their new classrooms, Carolyn Bennett stood just outside the yard, watching intently.

When she woke up this morning, “I was anxious, excited, kind of unsure,” she said. Her one and only child, Penelope, had been wavering between excitement and nervousness all morning.

The bell rang at 8:30 a.m., and several minutes later, Todd finally had a moment of respite.

“I was impressed with the kids — there’s a lot less nervousness this year,” she said. “It’s 15 minutes into the school day and I have no kids crying and clinging to their parents.”

Classes resumed this week for Santa Rosa City Schools, the county’s largest district, as well as schools in the Bennett Valley, Mark West, Windsor, Piner-Olivet and Rincon Valley districts.

Across Sonoma County, approximately 67,000 K-12 students are returning to campus this week and next.

Students in Geyserville, Roseland and the Wright Elementary district began their school year Wednesday.

The next wave of schools reopens Monday (Sonoma Valley), Tuesday (Cotati-Rohnert Park, Petaluma) and Wednesday (Guerneville, Healdsburg, Old Adobe) and next Thursday (Cloverdale, Sebastopol).

For a complete list of back-to-school dates across the county’s 40 districts go to bit.ly/3QxEvEg.

You can reach Staff Writer Alana Minkler at 707-526-8511 or alana.minkler@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @alana_minkler.

You can reach Staff Writer Elena Neale-Sacks at elena.neale-sacks@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @elenaneale17.