First day of middle school.

MT. PLEASANT - Teresa Coleman had butterflies in her stomach all summer in anticipation of starting middle school.

Monday, the first day of school for the Mt. Pleasant sixth-grader, was different from those of years past.

'This is the first time I rode my bike to school,” she said as she attempted to secure her pink bicycle to a rack.

When she finished with her black bike lock, she stood and put on her flower-print mask before walking toward the entrance of the school as the doors opened at 8 a.m.

With the district's mandate that masks be worn when students and staff cannot keep 6 feet apart, Coleman made sure to have hers on-hand.

After a summer that began unexpectedly in March following school shutdowns in response to the coronavirus pandemic, Coleman was excited to get back and was especially looking forward to starting a new grade with new responsibilities.

'I'm excited for lockers,” she said, even though lockers will not be assigned to students to begin the year.

'They're not using them for now because of COVID,” she added.

As the Mt. Pleasant Community School District headed into a year unlike any other, students and parents had varying levels of enthusiasm about what going to school during a pandemic would look like.

Corbin Kay, a first-grader who will be attending Van Allen, arrived early at the school with his grandmother Tracy Livengood.

'He wanted to take his grandfather's truck. We live just down the street,” Livengood said, as she adjusted Corbin's mask.

'He has a small form of autism, so he doesn't really like the mask. It's a little looser than others so hopefully he'll be OK … I think we're going a little overboard,” she added.

Although Corbin was excited to head back to school to 'play,” especially after seeing the basketball hoop at the school's playground, he would also miss his extra long summer.

'I got to watch TV and play video games,” he said.

Like Livengood, Lorena Mora was another district parent who wasn't thrilled about some of the changes the schools had implemented in light of the ongoing pandemic.

'I think they're taking too many measures and should just let them be kids. They're still going to get sick no matter what,” she said.

Mora added she felt 'pretty comfortable” sending her daughter back and is hoping the district will keep 'school as normal as possible … and that they continue to go throughout the school year.”

Other parents were feeling more cautious about heading back to school buildings. Christine Todd whose daughter Alician is beginning her junior year of high school, said the family had until the end of the day to decide whether or not the 11th-grader would continue classes in-person.

After walking Alician into the building, Christine said the junior wasn't quite sure how online schooling would work and wanted to test out the waters before making a decision.

'I'm definitely concerned. We're still on the fence … [Alician] will give me feedback at the end of the day and give me more input as to whether she feels more comfortable or not,” she said.

Todd added that with the county's positivity rate creeping upward, concern about her daughter catching the virus is in the back of her mind.

'The percentage rate for Henry County is elevated above what they're recommending, but we also need to have the 10 percent absentee rate, and we don't know that until after today, I guess,” she added.

Breanne Gnann, a first-grade teacher at Van Allen Elementary School, and her daughter Bryah, a fourth-grader, had their masks on as they took first-day-of-school pictures by the school sign.

The teacher said she's not too worried about the mask requirement and believes her students will be able to handle the coverings 'once they get used to it.”

'If not, we will give them breaks if they need it. Even adults need breaks,” she said.

'It's going to be a good year, even with all the differences ... We'll get through it, we always do,” the teacher added.