GREENSBORO, N.C. — It was a bag of mixed emotions for the first day of school.
Some teachers and staff were bringing the energy with chants and balloons, and even Guilford County Schools Superintendent, Dr. Whitney Oakley, was out talking with students.
"We saw some elementary school kids they were so excited, of course the middle and high schools, you know, kind of have their own personalities, but no I think we're ready for a great first week of school," said Dr. Oakley
For some parents, like Meagan Hursey, it was a sad day at drop off, because her son is at a new school, which means the kids are growing up.
"I am excited about it, he has an amazing teacher, Ms. Chapman, she's amazing, she really is, so I am excited about that but it's hard, it's hard dropping them off at school for the first time at their new school," said Hursey.
After stopping at both Northeast Middle School and Dudley High School, there were no major concerns.
Buses were moving along, but parent drop-off traffic was a bit backed up.
Dr. Oakley said that is normal for about the first week of school.
"Everybody knows the first day more kids ride in the car, there's the traffic, but it evens out by early next week, everybody will be in a routine and know exactly what to do," she said.
There were also police officers and sheriff deputies out at the schools monitoring safety.
For the first time, students at GCS middle schools used the new body scanners.
There are now touchless body scanners inside the district's 22 middle schools.
"It gives me a little bit more peace of mind knowing he is going to be safer, it may not be perfect, something could happen, but it does give me some peace of mind," said Hursey.
This comes after the district saw success at 26 high schools.
Last year, four guns were found on four high school campuses, and body scanners detected two of them.
GCS also upgraded and installed more cameras around the school.
Oakley also said staff has been hard at work getting the schools ready for the first day of school, but to be patient at the same time, as they are still working on some of the deferred maintenance at older schools.
"We're grateful to voters for passing bond but in the meantime, we're trying to keep our old buildings going. we've had lots of hard rain lately so our crews are out and making sure they are as good as they can possibly and we're ready for a great first week of school," said Oakley.