Monday was the first day of school for Arundel's students in grades one through six and nine, with the remainder of students beginning today and staggered through this week.
Barton greeted the 22 students, including four who are new to the school, from a chair as they surrounded her on the floor by saying, "It's so nice to see you again and to have some new friends."
Barton began the day with an assignment to identify how their classroom had changed from last year.
One student observed that there was now a pillow on the floor in the listening center, near the rear of the class. Another student pointed out that a white basket near the teacher's desk that was normally empty was full of freshly sharpened pencils. Xan-Xan Danckaert, 7, raised her hand and told Barton that she noticed the school's decor had changed a bit.
"The doors," said Xan-Xan. "They were blue, but they painted them red."
The students expressed themselves with hand gestures, many of them carry-over traditions from last year. Correct answers were celebrated with high-fives. If the students liked something, they gave a thumbs-up, and if they wanted to say, "Me, too," they gestured with their pinkies.
One student, Kim Horn, 7, assessed second grade as she began work on her first project of the school year: a piece of artwork that reflected an exciting summer pastime.
"My dad told me I got the same teacher as last year, and I thought it was really great because Miss Barton is really nice," said Kim.
By afternoon, Barton had planned to jump into the core subjects and already had students assigned to math, reading and poetry groups. And there was a social studies lesson planned, to learn about respect.
"We can just jump into some things," Barton told her students. "I already have such a good idea."
And to that, the kids gave a thumbs-up.
