Buses were arriving, parents were walking kids to classrooms, lunches were being served … it was the first day of school for students in the Escalon Unified School District on Thursday, Aug. 10.

Across the district, school bells rang to signal the official end of summer for youngsters, as they headed back to their elementary, middle school or high school campus.

“I’m actually really excited this year,” said teacher Taylor Wondolowski, entering her fourth year at Dent. “The parents that came to orientation were so positive.”

Parents Ryan and Amber Shepherd were dropping off daughter Zoey, 4, to start TK, transitional kindergarten, at Dent.

“It’s a bittersweet feeling because now I’m an empty nester,” Amber Shepherd said, noting that Zoey is her ‘baby’ and the last to start school. “She’s so excited; she can’t help it.”

Elsewhere, parent and Dent alum Autumn Andersen was experiencing some déjà vu, bringing her son Archer Nelson to kindergarten in the same room where she attended kindergarten at Dent many years ago, with teacher, Mrs. Melen.

“My daughter came here and now my son, in the same room,” Andersen said, chuckling.

Daughter Addison Nelson, 8, is now entering fourth grade, and said she missed math over the summer and is excited to be back.

As the school buses arrived to deliver their riders, aide Lupe Roberts was on hand to greet them.

“I’m retired but I’m here subbing, all the time,” Roberts said, smiling. She and co-worker Victoria Gastello made sure the kids at Dent were greeted with a smile and had the chance to use a blow-up school bus picture frame to take a photo of their first day.

“It’s a good vibe, a positive vibe,” Dent Principal Anthony Varni said of seeing the kids come in for the first day.

Classes resumed not only at Dent this past week but also at Van Allen, Collegeville and Farmington elementary schools, El Portal Middle School, Escalon High School, Vista High School and for students at the district’s Gateway Academy charter school.