Many students held tightly to their mothers’ hands Thursday as they returned to Frazier Primary School for the first day of school.

Rita Brooks said her first-grade son, Troy Brooks Jr., asked her if it was still summer that morning.

&uot;I guess he’s (wondering) why school’s starting, if it’s still summer,&uot; Brooks said.

Dressed in a crisp uniform, Troy Brooks was one of hundreds of Natchez children who started the 2000-01 school year Thursday.

Students in the Natchez-Adams School District will face changes this year as the district implements a new discipline plan, conducts early student dismissals two Wednesdays of every month and continues its emphasis on exit skills testing.

Cathedral School and Holy Family Catholic School also began classes Thursday. Adams County Christian School and Trinity Episcopal Day School will begin next week. Concordia Parish public school classes begin Aug. 21.

Paula Gaylor, a teacher’s assistant at Frazier Primary, said all was well for the first day, while she helped a group of children find their classrooms.

It was a typical first day with parents trying to find out where to take their children and &uot;children anxious to be here but (not knowing) quite what to do,&uot; she said.

Brooks said her first-grade son was hoping for a good teacher and was worried because he didn’t know how to read very well.

&uot;Reading is going to be the big thing for him,&uot; she said.

Brooks said she told her son that she and his father would help him everyday with reading.

&uot;I told him ‘you are going to be reading in no time,’&uot; Brooks said.

And preschooler, Redavion Seals, sat nervously in his mother’s lap Thursday morning while waiting to go to class. Earlier in the morning, he told his mother he didn’t want to go to school, said his mother, Yolande Seals.

&uot;He just hasn’t been around other kids a lot,&uot; she said.

And Temika Tyler said her first-grade daughter, Glen’netrice Tyler was very excited to be returning to school.

&uot;She couldn’t sleep last night,&uot; Tyler said.