Literally, it's first day of school

Thousands of students across Snohomish County went back to school Wednesday.

The majority of districts, including Everett, Edmonds, Granite Falls, Marysville, Monroe and Snohomish, opened their doors to welcome back anxious students.

At Granite Falls Middle School, students waited in line at the school's offices to pick up their class schedules. Many also opted for a map of the school.

This year, the middle school is new to all 510 sixth-, seventh- and eighth-grade students. The campus at 405 N. Alder Ave. is the former site of the old Granite Falls High School.

Custodians, teachers and other staff members spent most of the summer moving into the building that was retrofitted to open Wednesday as the new Granite Falls Middle School.

"It certainly has a bigger feel to it," Principal Dave Bianchini said. "It's a promise we made to our community three years ago when we opened the new high school and now we're able to fulfill that promise. It's exciting."

Romualdo Trejo, 13, took a tour of the middle school Aug. 30. It's bigger than his old school and a little confusing to get around, he said, but he'll get used to it fast.

"I like it," he said. "You have to change everything up once in awhile."

Technology teacher Randy Cash said he and other teachers were adjusting to the school building and their new classrooms.

"It's truly like the first day of school because I don't know where all the other teachers are so we're working with the kids," he said.

The middle school students and teachers weren't the only ones in the Granite Falls School District who were navigating their way through new hallways and classrooms. Crossroads Alternative High School moved into the old middle school building on Alder Avenue. The alternative school has always met in portable classrooms. On Wednesday morning, they walked into their own building.

Junior Kayla Keeler and senior Jayna Hills were part of a group of students who led games in the gym for students to get to know each other. The students were treated afterward to a pancake breakfast in the commons cooked by Granite Falls firefighters.

Having class inside the building will be better than the portables, said Kayla, 16. She thinks a part of her class schedule will be fun, too.

"I'm looking forward to yearbook," she said.

In Marysville, a high school opened for its second year. Marysville Getchell High School welcomed back about 1,500 students in its four Small Learning Communities. An exciting first for the school this year is that football games -- as well as basketball, soccer and wrestling and other sports -- will be held on the campus.

"It has been very exciting to get students back on campus for a second year," said Shawn Stevenson, principal of the Academy of Construction and Engineering. "Kids are happy to be here and happy to get going and staff are excited to see kids again."

The first day of school is often a time for teachers and school principals throughout the district to set expectations for the year and remind students of school rules.

Students at Evergreen Middle School in Everett spent a part of their day listening to two Everett High School graduates talk about working hard and staying in school. The graduates, Val Hennings and Krystal Hernandez, are now attending University of Washington Bothell.

The college students' personal stories were inspiring and hit home with the middle school students, history teacher Ed Glazer said.

"A seventh grader came up to me and said, 'Wow, I didn't think middle school counted,'" he said.

"That, to me, says it all."

Amy Daybert: 425-339-3491; adaybert@heraldnet.com.