Will Mary's first day of school bring tears or adventure?

Summer is officially over next week. At least it is for all the parents and kids who are heading back to school Wednesday.

I know a lot of moms who have spent that first day of school crying in both sadness and pride as their child goes off to school for the first time.

I've also heard that it's hard to predict whether the new student will cry and cling or merely wave good-bye to head off on a new adventure alone.

At my house neither one of us is much of a crier and my only girl, Mary, has never been very clingy. But as the big day approaches one of us is becoming a clingy weeper -- and it's not me. So, I'm not sure what to expect from either one of us as she heads to the bus for that first one-mile trip to school.

Mary will be celebrating two milestones on Aug. 22 as she celebrates her 6th birthday with her new kindergarten friends at Fearn Elementary School, 1600 Hawksley Lane in North Aurora.

We were assured in the spring that her teacher expects her to bring treats and her baby pictures to class. And Mary reminds me that she will get to wear a crown in class too.

Through all her preschool years, my daughter has been in morning activities and classes, but she has been assigned to one of Fearn's afternoon kindergarten classes.

I question calling it "afternoon" or "p.m." kindergarten, since I have to get her on the bus at 11:23 a.m.

Let's see, she'll have breakfast at 7:30 or 8 a.m. and lunch at 11 a.m. I suppose I'll have to serve brunch at 2:15 p.m. when the bus brings her back home.

The kindergarten teachers said that the early lunch time is good practice for next year when the first-graders are scheduled to have lunch at 11 a.m. No wonder kids are so hungry when they come home.

Kindergarten hours are 8:10 to 10:30 a.m. for morning and 11:50 a.m. to 2:10 p.m. for afternoon classes.

Mark Engen, transportation director for West Aurora School District 129, said that Fearn has the biggest influx of students among the North Aurora elementary schools.

In the spring Engen met with Fearn teachers to put together bus routes that are more economical for the district.

"Instead of going to the same areas twice a day we've grouped them together," Engen said.

Last year a school bus came around our Orchard Estates neighborhood and dropped morning kindergarteners off after their morning at school. And another bus came around a little while later to take other kids to their afternoon kindergarten class.

Morning students go to school with the older kids and go home on a separate bus. It's the reverse in the "afternoon."

This year kids in our Orchard Estates neighborhood will join 5- and 6-year-olds from a portion of Tanner Trails, Exposition, Lincolnshire, Heritage West and Mirador subdivisions and other houses on Randall and Sullivan roads.

A larger portion of Tanner Trails will join with the other subdivisions in the Fearn district in the morning classes.

Engen wants all parents to be sure that all the younger kids have their names and bus routes attached to the outside of their backpacks.

"Safety starts at home," he said. "Be sure that your child's name tag also has his bus routes on it so we can help him find the right place, and most of all please be home when we bring the kids home."

Engen said the transportation department has new routing software this year.

"It makes it easy to find where a student should be. If we just have a name we can get their route number from the software," he explained.

All right, I'll get out that Sharpie and write Mary's name and route number on the tag the school provided and we'll be ready to go next week.

I think she's ready. I hope I am.

Write me: I'm always looking for human interest stories for this column and North Aurora schools Goodwin, Schneider, Fearn, Jewel and Herget are great sources. Send me an e-mail if you come across a special student, an innovative teacher or a special event that deserves attention in this column. My address is mckozik@comcast.net.