With a pillow and blanket on her hip, 5-year-old Jayden Porter headed to her locker at Hermosa Elementary School and posed for another picture.

"Are you going to get lost?" asked her mother, Cynthia, before pointing the way to her kindergarten classroom.

Cynthia took another picture of her oldest daughter and watched with Jayden's younger sister, Jaci, 3, as more students filed into Heather Cooper's classroom.

Jayden had been looking forward to this for a long time - the first day of school.

"She was very calm," Cynthia Porter said. "This morning, she was the most helpful she's ever been."

Custer County was one of a handful of local school districts that started classes this week. The Rapid City School District starts classes after Labor Day.

Hermosa Principal Chip Franke said it's good to see the kids back after what seemed like a very short summer.

"There are a lot of positive things going on this year," he said, adding that there will be many ways for parents to get involved in the students' activities.

Enrollment for the K-8 Hermosa school is 165 this year, about the same as last year.

The first day of school can be trying, Cooper said.

"It's just trying to get a routine," she said.

Sometimes the parents have a harder time making the transition of their children starting kindergarten than the kids do, Cooper said. She said educators encourage parents and relatives not to stay too long on the first day of school.

"We ask them to try to go, or else (the bond) never gets broken." Cooper said.

A few students, and even some parents, wiped away tears Monday.

Tommie Thompson dropped her kids off at their classrooms and checked in on Garrett Wordeman, 6, a family friend. It was his first day in kindergarten.

"I peeked in to see how he was doing, and he was about in tears," she said. "He'll be good once everything gets going."

For the Porters, it's the first time the two sisters will be separated. They used to spend days together at day care.

"It will be an adjustment," Porter said.

But it's a good chance for them to grow on their own, especially Jayden, she added.

"It's an opportunity to find her own personality," she said.

Contact Kayla Gahagan at 394-8410 or kayla.gahagan@rapidcityjournal.com