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Schools across sa国际传媒官网网页入口 welcomed back students Thursday morning as the largest district in the state opened its classrooms after summer vacation.

First graders to seniors returned to sa国际传媒官网网页入口 Public Schools campuses, while the district projects an enrollment of just over 64,000 鈥� a decrease of around 1,000 students 鈥� and operates with its largest budget ever at $2.25 billion.

In Barelas, Dolores Gonzales Elementary School welcomed kids back with teachers banging on bass drums, shaking maracas and ringing cowbells to upbeat songs by the likes of Bill Withers and Selena in a courtyard at the school鈥檚 entrance.

鈥淚 think there鈥檚 a really good balance of community, as you can see the staff take the extra steps to make sure that the kids are feeling like they belong to this place,鈥� Dahveed Torres said as he dropped off his fifth grade son. 鈥淭hey have a sense of stewardship towards the community, towards their future, towards each other.鈥�

Welcoming parents and students onto the campus, second-year principal of the bilingual school Parisa Asgharzadeh radioed on her walkie-talkie to her staff that there were just a few minutes until the gate closed as the clock inched closer to 7:30 鈥� when class began.

鈥淲e want to see the children feel like they belong here. We want them to be excited, energized, to make it memorable on the first day, so it鈥檚 a core memory, and they have the energy to take them through the school,鈥� Asgharzadeh said.

Around three miles away in the North Valley, just before 8 a.m., middle schoolers flocked to the cafeteria to receive their schedules at Garfield Middle School as APS Superintendent Gabriella Blakey, joined by her chief of staff, walked the campus hallways.

鈥淚n the North Valley is where we have declining enrollment, so some of the students, their elementary school was closed 鈥� in previous years,鈥� Blakey said. 鈥淪o they鈥檙e pretty excited, I think, to be able to have an opportunity to go to a more robust experience here at Garfield, their numbers look really good.鈥�

Garfield, a magnet school focused on science, technology, engineering and mathematics, had around 290 students at the end of last school year, and has nearly 350 students this year, partially due to the closure of Taft Middle School announced last year as part of the district鈥檚 right-sizing plan in response to declining enrollment.

鈥淟et鈥檚 have a great first day at Garfield Magnet and Community School, let鈥檚 make sure we are treating each other well with respect and kindness, because here we build scholars and compassionate citizens,鈥� school Principal Joshua LaClair said over the intercom just after students had made their way into classrooms. 鈥淚f no one has told you 鈥業 love you鈥� today, Mr. LaClair is telling you officially, right here, right now, first day of school, that I love you all. I鈥檓 glad that you鈥檙e here.鈥�

The district closed Taft as part of its ongoing right-sizing plan, however there aren鈥檛 any plans for the district to close any schools this year, according to Antonio Gonzales, deputy superintendent of operations. In a Tuesday interview with the Journal, he added that 鈥減lans change鈥� but 鈥渨e will not have any schools closing this year.鈥�

In the Northeast Heights, around 9:30 a.m., over 1,000 students roamed between buildings at Sandia High School during their passing period as the school juggled a higher-than-anticipated enrollment. One of those students was Julian Archuleta, a freshman left tackle for the school鈥檚 football team.

Among the things he said he鈥檚 most excited about are being in a 鈥渘ew school, new environment鈥� and being able to 鈥減lay the games, and represent Sandia.鈥�

Despite the district鈥檚 enrollment woes, Sandia鈥檚 higher-than-expected student registration leading to cramped classrooms is one of the main concerns for Principal Camille Gonzales as she begins her 26th school year with APS, 10th at Sandia and fifth heading the school. However, she called it a 鈥済ood problem鈥� to have.

The other issue she sees as a challenge is the safety of students on campus.

Last year, APS found 15 firearms on its campuses, including charter schools 鈥� which it doesn鈥檛 oversee day-to-day operations at. However, none of those firearms were found at Sandia.

鈥淭he other problem is what we鈥檙e seeing citywide, nationwide, and that is, the threat of school violence and the fear of weapons seen on campus,鈥� Gonzales said. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 something that I think is always in the back of everybody鈥檚 mind, and so we do our best to put safety protocols in place and to adhere to those, but I think that fear is always there.鈥�