Four-year-old McKenna Bumgardner spent all summer long going over the alphabet and counting numbers to prepare for her first day of kindergarten at Brown Elementary School.

“She’s been practicing constantly; she even knows how to spell her name,” said mother Mandy Bumgardner. “McKenna’s been waiting to start kindergarten for a really long time.”

McKenna was one hundreds of students who were lined up in front of their classrooms, ready to get the ball rolling for their first day of school on Monday.

“I’m so excited to be here,” said McKenna. “I can’t wait to meet my teacher.”

And despite the early school hours after a long summer of sleeping in, students were happy to be back in the classroom.

“As much as I loved my summer break, I couldn’t wait to be back,” said fourth grader Jordan Grichott. “I’m curious to see if my friends are in my classroom and if my teacher is nice. I also get to see a lot more of my friends when school starts.”

Some students at Brown spent their summer break reviewing their reading and math to help them succeed in the new academic year. Siblings Raegan and Keely Burns hit the books during their summer vacation and went over different subjects to refresh their minds and get a head start with the new Common Core State Standards.

“We went over a lot of math problems and read books,” said Keely. “Our parents wanted to make sure we were prepared.”

For Raegan, going back to school meant getting her hands on new books that she plans to read throughout the school year.

“I love to read. I like picking out new books that I haven’t read before,” said Raegan. “I could read all day if I wanted to.”

All Turlock Unified School District and Delhi Unified students started the academic year on Monday, however, other local students have already been in class. Denair Unified students started school on Aug. 13, and Turlock Christian and Hilmar Unified started school on Aug. 15.

Keyes Union's first day of school is Wednesday.