MARYSVILLE — Extra-early wake-up times, hectic check-ins, bustling gymnasium assemblies and concerted efforts to foster a sense of community marked the start of the 2010-11 school year at Marysville elementary and middle schools.

On the first day of school Sept. 7, Totem Middle School tasked its PE and electives teachers with keeping lookouts for any children who looked lost or confused, arming them with information sheets so they could direct students to their proper classrooms. For sixth-grade students who were new to the school, teachers gathered in the gym holding up signs with their names so that their classes could find each other in a common meeting space before going to their own classrooms.

“Sixth-graders are the students who most commonly get lost, because it’s all new to them,” said Totem Principal Robert Kalahan, who reported an enrollment of approximately 750 students this year, continuing the student body increases of the past three years. “We’re reaching our point of capacity,” he laughed. “In years past, we might have had a reputation that made some people not want to come to our school, but they want to come now. We’re emphasizing math instruction in our curriculum and have changed our culture with the support of our parents.”

Totem PTSA President Christina Erwin, who received 129 signups for the group that morning, agreed with Kalahan that the morning went relatively smoothly.

Rachel Jahn’s daughters, sixth-grader Sidney and seventh-grader Jordan, were less than enthusiastic for the first day of school, which mom herself considered a mixed blessing.

“It’s hard getting up at 5 a.m. to start getting ready, but it’s easy once you actually get them off to school,” Jahn said. “I’ll have a bit more time to myself. Make sure you get a map,” she laughed, offering advice to other parents as she held up a map of the campus provided by the school.

Seventh-grader Priscila Rios-Castro coped with her own anxieties as she and her mother, Elisa Castro, waited in line outside the main office to check in.

“I get really nervous about meeting new people, but on the first day, a lot of people will greet you and say, ‘Hi, how are you?'” Priscila Rios-Castro said.

“I wake up early for my job every day, but the first day of school makes it even more complicated,” Elisa Castro said. “I have two more kids waiting to go to Quil Ceda Elementary today.”

Seventh-grade teacher Jason Bragg explained that Totem eases students not only back into a school schedule, but also into Totem’s own ways of working.

“The first couple of weeks feature an extended homeroom period to get used to our culture and how we do things,” Bragg said. “The content classes are a little shorter during that time.”

This year, Prudence Larcom sent her 11-year-old son to sixth grade at Totem and her 6-year-old daughter to first grade at Grove Elementary.

“He had some anxieties about getting lost or forgetting his locker combination,” Larcom said. “She’s never done all-day school before, so I don’t think she quite comprehends it yet, but she loves school so it shouldn’t be an issue.”

Larcom woke up at 4:30 a.m. to begin her series of checks and double-checks to make sure her kids were ready. Her son made her stand on the other side of the street from the bus stop where he was picked up, so that he could look appropriately cool to his peers.

“I even heard him and his friends saying, ‘Girl alert,'” she laughed.

The Larcoms were among the many students, parents and other adult guardians who flocked outside of the front doors of Grove Sept. 7 to double-check which classes they were heading to and whether they’d brought all the tissues, hand sanitizer pumps and other school supplies required.

“I’m excited about meeting new people, but I’m nervous that I won’t know what to do,” second-grader Mishka Griffin said. She nonetheless comforted first-graders like Tyrell Cannon by telling them, “First grade is really cool and you get to have a great teacher.”

“The house will be quiet, which is nice,” Hank Lindop laughed, as he helped his son Tucker put away his belongings in his first-grade classroom. “I think he’s more excited than we are.”

First-grade teacher Jessica Callagan once again comforted a crying child during their first day of school, but she expressed confidence that making her students feel welcome will ease their fears.

“It can be a tough transition for some of them, since they don’t know what the year has in store,” said Callagan, who told her students that she has a “five-hug-a-day minimum” for them. “But once they realize that this is a safe environment and we’re all working together as a team, they’re usually okay.”

Grove Principal Jeanne Tennis reported that more than 500 people showed up to the school’s “sneak peak” night, which she deemed especially impressive in light of the school’s estimated enrollment of 570 students, an increase from last year.

Tulalip Elementary started its school year with a new tradition, as Principal Chris Sampley conducted the first of what will be twice-daily school-wide assemblies. Sampley introduced new school staff members and familiarized students with Tulalip ways of showing proper respect.

“They’ve been quiet and a few of them have said that they’re a bit sleepy, but they’re happy to be back because their friends are here,” said Sampley, who added that she expects enrollment to push 250 this year, up from last year. “These assemblies are intended to give students a sense of family every morning and afternoon. We want to educate them, yes, but we also want them to feel welcomed and part of the Tulalip family.”