By CAROLINE CARMICHAEL/ Staff Writer

It’s Aug. 9, and schools across the county are bustling with little feet, slamming lockers and buzzing intercoms.

For the first time ever, Jemison Intermediate School (JIS) is among them.

It would seem from student responses that day one at JIS is a success.

Among the many fourth graders interviewed about their first-ever day at the new school and new building, most said the day started off with a lot of nerves.

A class with nearly every hand raised testified to this.

“[I] was nervous when I first got in the car to come here, but now I’m pretty excited and I like it,” fourth grader Dee Dee Dutton said from her line in the hallway. “My favorite part was being in Mrs. Price’s class,” she said.

Many students said meeting their teachers was the highlight of their day so far.

Among them was Joe Castaing, who said his first day was “going pretty good.”

The first day of intermediate school meant it was also the first day for fourth graders to have a locker.

Several could be seen in the hallway helping each other master the unlocking mechanism.

“Lockers are easy!” one student said. But others said that it was both a little scary and exciting.

According to fourth grader Isaiah Minor, JIS students were given a tour in the morning to learn the layout of the new school. Minor said he thought this was special.

Principal D.J. Nix said the tour showed students important locations within the school, such as Nurse Carol Dailey’s office and the lunchroom, and gave parents the opportunity to meet Dailey in person.

“It went well today,” Nix said. “Everybody was nervous—even I was nervous—and as administrators, this is all a new thing for us. But overall everything went great, and today is all about getting students home safe.”

Nix is excited about the new school year for JIS.

As fourth grader Trinity Bean put it, “It was nervous at first, but it got better. I’m feeling like tomorrow’s going to be an even better day!”