'We're back!' Fresh faces, high hopes as city schools open

A throng of students, teachers, and faculty gathered in the Jackson Mann cafeteria just after 7 a.m., catching up, sending off, and signing in on the first day of classes.

“They are scared on day one,” said Rosane Lobato, a first-grade teacher for English learners. “But I’m excited to be back. I love teaching, my heart is in it.”

A diverse group of children assembled at each table, reuniting with friends and inspecting possible new ones.

“Oh, you got taller!” said sixth-grader Zannatul Zannat, as she hugged her classmate, Patricia Yaranga.

The cafeteria was still filling up past the customary 7:30 a.m. start, but barely any students were eating the free breakfasts available.

“I don’t know if it’s the excitement, or if they all ate at home on the first day,” said head lunch lady, Paula O’Brien, standing in front of a table piled high with Cheerios packets.

First-year Principal Andy Tuite said he was excited for day one, as he welcomed students in the school lobby.

“I love it because everybody is number one in their class, there’s no gray clouds,” said Tuite, who was the former principal at two Boston middle schools. He now oversees about 730 students and 106 faculty members, including 65 teachers, at Jackson Mann.

Outside, groups of teenagers walked past on their way to one of the three nearby high schools: Brighton High School, and the Another Course to College and Boston Community Leadership Academy, which share a building.

Michael King, an incoming freshman at ACC, walked with his friend, Mike Simmons, a returning sophomore.

“It’ll be a little tougher, I guess,” King said of high school.

“I was letting him know there’s more freedom. You get to wear your hat and stuff,” Simmons chimed in as he adjusted his flat-brimmed cap.

At Brighton High, students filed off city and school buses and filed into the school through metal detectors.

“I’m excited!” said Taylor Hughes, a junior enrolled at the school for the first time. “It’s the first day of school, I’ve finally got something to do.”

Hughes had just stepped off her second city bus, ending a 30-minute commute from Roxbury with her less-ecstatic friend, Keyarra Drayton. “I’m just excited for basketball,” said Drayton, who’s a senior center for the varsity team.

On the front steps of the castle-like school, which houses about 1,200 students and 119 faculty, Student Engagement Coordinator Nick Chareas greeted students.

“It’s great to be back. There’s always a few hiccups, but we get through it,” said Chareas, who is essentially the school’s disciplinarian. Moments before, a Boston police officer carried a large knife he appeared to have confiscated.

Inside, volunteers from the school system welcomed students and assigned them to homerooms. At about 8 a.m., two senior girls approached Yu Lan Lin, the director of the city’s World Language Program. One laughed at the other’s assignment, but when she discovered she had the same homeroom, the two squealed and hugged down the hallway.

“It’s so good to see kids happy on the first day,” Yu said.