Summer is over, thousands return to class for Miami-Dade's first day of public school
MIAMI - Summer is officially over for Miami-Dade public school students as they head back to the classroom for the first day of school.
Miami-Dade County Public Schools, the state's largest school district with 331,500 students, is excited to get the new year going.
Early Thursday morning, buses rolled out to pick up students in the third-largest school district in the country.
The district has 700 school bus drivers but there are still 20 vacancies.
This year, the district added brand new electric buses to the fleet. Right now there are 20 electric "clean energy," and eventually there will be 50 servicing the routes.
Some parents decided to walk their kids to school on the first day.
Brimming with new supplies and ready for the year to start, several students at Dr. Robert Ingram Elementary School said they were happy to be back. Several parents said they were a little sad to see them go.
"Yes, I was crying 'cause she's my third grader, she's my firstborn," said Alicia Wright.
At West Homestead K-8 a first grader said she can't wait to get to her desk. "I get to meet my new friends because I'm going in first grade I was just in kindergarten.
At Charles K Drew K-8 in Liberty City, students are excited to go into their brand new school building for the first time. "I like the design in that it was just nice to sit back, relax and learn," said 3rd grader Khalid Shorter.
Superintendent Jose Dotres said this year they will focus on proficiency. He said educators will work to meet new standards and understand new assessments focused on closing the achievement gap. He added that mental health and the well-being of students will continue to be a priority as will safety at schools.
Dotres will visit several schools throughout the day to check in with teachers and students.
"Today we've had a smooth day of opening, everything has gone well. There's always delays with some of the buses, nothing has been significant of an issue," he said.
At some school, parents talked about long lines for pick up and drop off. "I had to take extended time from work to do this maneuver today and so we'll have to make up time for work tonight," said parent Valeria Sheran. Dotres said he has experience with that. "As a former principal, I always knew it was going to take me about 5 days for the drop-off and pick-up to level off.
He says it's worse when the school year starts. "Sometimes parents want to drop off their children the first couple of days. Get to know where they drop off the kids. Then as the days progress you see more and more students either riding the bus or are dropped off earlier for breakfast," he said.
New this year, in conjunction with the University of Florida, the district is offering artificial intelligence courses for high school students
Returning this year, free breakfasts and lunches for all public school students.