GREENTOWN — Tuesday was the last quiet weekday at Eastern Elementary for a few months.

“Welcome” posters line the halls, and outside most classrooms, students’ names are printed neatly or typed on Olympic medals, apples, pencils and other cutouts, letting each one know where his or her class is.

Other than a few bursts of laughter and the sound of a copier whirring as it prints worksheets, the halls are quiet.

But this morning, the kids will be back.

Students in the Eastern Howard Schools, as well as the Kokomo-Center, Maconaquah, Northern of Tipton, Peru and Western Schools, return to classes today.

Northwestern and Taylor students return Thursday, with Tipton beginning classes Friday.

Eastern Elementary Principal Linda Stephenson said teachers officially returned Monday, though many have been in the building preparing their classrooms since early August, and others come in from time to time all summer.

Like the students, she said, the teachers enjoy seeing their friends again on their first day, and meeting new people, including the school’s seven new teachers.

Tuesday morning was spent in meetings, including presentations by the Wabash Valley cooperative about what materials it has available for teachers. Planners even brought in their Skylab inflatable planetarium and set it up in the gym, Stephenson said.

The afternoon was time for last-minute preparations for the students’ arrival.

She said as principal, her job is to make sure the teachers have everything they need, so that everything is ready on the first day. She added that teachers look forward to the first day just as much as the kids.

“I’ve always said I don’t know what I’d do with a job where you don’t have a first day every year,” she said.

Sherry Thompson said a lot of her preparations have to take place last minute, making the last day before the students arrive a busy one for her. She teaches special services, and has to meet with teachers about individual students and complete paperwork.

She said the best part about the first day is “the students are always excited to be back, so it’s always fun to see them.”

In the school library, Barb Loomis, Cindy Echelbarger and Delena Murphy are glad to have more people in the building. They are at school most of the summer, because the library is also a public library, and they said it’s pretty quiet all summer.

After a week of deep cleaning and reshelving books, the library is neat and ready to go.

“Every book is exactly where it belongs,” Echelbarger said, and Loomis added she’s excited to see them come off the shelves and go home with the kids.

“That’s what they’re for.”

In the first-grade and kindergarten hallway, tiny wooden cubbies line the hallways, each marked with a kindergartener’s name. Their names are also posted on colorful bulletin boards outside the rooms.

Cilicia Beachy puts the finishing touches on her first-grade classroom. She said she’s been at school for a few hours each day for the last week, marking supplies, preparing desks, hanging bulletin boards and taking care of other preparations.

Each student desk is neatly labeled with a name, and has a plastic tub on top, containing a folder, a book, pencil, crayons and other necessities, each marked with a child’s name. The tub keeps the students’ things organized, Beachy said, and the labeling prevents mix-ups.

She said the best part of the first day is “to see the new faces.”

The school office also is a busy place, with secretaries Dana Brovont and Linda Carter busy entering student data into the computer, in preparation for students to use the computerized lunch card system. Brovont said she’s also been busy filling requests for records transfers for students who have moved to other schools.

Stephenson said enrollment is expected to be stable this year, and they’re just about ready for the kids to return.

“Ready or not, here they come.”

Danielle Rush may be reached at (765) 454-8585 or via e-mail at danielle.rush@kokomotribune.com