Some Broward Students Happy To Start New School Year

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FT LAUDERDALE (CBSMiami) – After a summer off, students across Broward were packing cars and buses for the first day of the school year.

At Palm Cove Elementary School in Pembroke Pines, kids couldn't wait to get back to school and hit the books.

"Sad that summer's over, but I really like the school year," said Jamya Guyton who is starting fourth grade.

"She's been up since 5 o'clock, so she was super excited to get back to school to see her friends and see who her new teacher would be," said her mother, Tamala Guyton.

The students at MacArthur High School were greeted by Broward School Superintendent Robert Runcie.

"Good morning everyone welcome back. We love to have you here, we're off to a great school year," said Runcie in his welcome speech.

He compared a good education to a team that works well.

"The students are the players, the teachers are the coaches, the parents are the fans, and as I always like to say, 'It takes teamwork to make the dream work,'" he said.

The first day can also be bit stressful with kids taking on new challenges.

"I'm nervous. I'm scared to see, because a lot of my friends are not here," said freshman Garbriella Gitte.

At St. Thomas Aquinas High School in Fort Lauderdale, freshman arrived early to begin the school year.

Monsignor Vincent Kelly pointed out school is part of a much larger journey.

"Whatever school you go to, think big. Think four years, think eight years," he said.

And with thousands of kids headed back to school, Broward public school bus drivers were back on the road, hard at work Monday.

"It's always exciting, the first day of school," said driver Sheryl Holber.

Broward's buses helped a lot the county's nearly 270,000 students get to where they needed to be.

Holber said during the course of her day she'll be picking up kids from elementary, middle and high school. She added that she's been practicing her route so she's very familiar with it and hopes thing go smoothly from day one.

Runcie arrived at the district's bus terminal before dawn to get a firsthand look at the massive operation.

"This is also a day that our community needs to recognize that there's going to be more traffic out there, each day we put over a thousand buses on the road," said Runcie. "We have some great mechanics, great bus operators, we have one of the largest fleets in the country."

In Miami-Dade, school buses have gone high tech for the new school year.

This year Broward schools partnered with the national organization Code.org to offer computer science courses at all high schools. The district has also expanded access to computer science in middle and elementary schools. Also, dual language programs from 15 to 26 elementary schools.

While it's the first day back for students, staff members were hard at work this past week at schools like Walker elementary school, which underwent a dramatic change as part of a state-mandated effort to fix low-performing campuses.

"Everything has been done, from the chairs to the teachers' furniture, painting – and it's like a brand new facility," said Walker Elementary School Assistant Principal Tauri Eligon. "I think that's what the community needs, that's what the kids need, and it's going to be an amazing year."

Runcie plans to visit nearly half a dozen schools on Monday to mark the beginning of the 2015-2016 school year.