ROCK SPRINGS – Schools in Rock Springs continued to give parents and students the opportunity to return to familiar halls and meet their new teachers before the official first day of school on Tuesday.

Students stormed the halls of Sage Elementary Friday afternoon while their parents tried to keep up with them. While many of the students have been at Sage for several years, others are walking the halls for the first time.

Aiden Friedman-Yettaw has been going to Northpark Elementary for the past couple of years and will be attending Sage for the first time this year, he will be in fourth grade this year.

He is a fan of angry birds and showed off his new remote control car. The young man said he is looking forward to seeing friends and said his teachers seemed to be very nice. Of course, Friedman-Yettaw favorite subjects are gym, lunch and recess but was especially excited about recess.

For other students, Sage Elementary is a second home. Kaden Campbell has spent his entire Elementary career at the school and will be leaving after he completes fourth grade this year. Campbell said it would be “Kinda sad” to leave Sage after the end of the year.

As many students, he is also looking forward to meeting up with his best friends. He also expressed that recesses was his favorite subject but said he enjoyed the challenge of math also. Campbell made a quick connection with his new teacher through their enjoyment of basketball.

While students are enjoying the thought of the new year, Principal Tina Searle calls it her passion.

Sage has been a positive re-enforcement school rather than creating a discipline environment. Programs like pizza with the principal and league of superheroes will continue while her and her staff have been working on new enhancement programs.

“We really want to honor the growth of our students,” Searle said. She gets her positivity from seeing how her students succeed and grow. This year, Searle said she has challenged herself to continue to work to make sure every student in Sage Elementary sees growth. “Sage is a true family which makes the teachers collaborate with each other,” Searle said. “Everything we try to do is all very positive and there is positivity throughout the school.”

Searle said if there was one things that parents could sent with their young ones for the first day of school it would be that they feel very special and very safe,“Without a great self esteem and a feeling of safety, teaching students is almost impossible,” Searle explained.