By NEAL WAGNER / City Editor

More than 100 incoming kindergarteners and their parents got a taste of things to come at Meadow View Elementary School on May 9 as the school held its kindergarten orientation day.

During the orientation, the rising kindergarteners enjoyed animal crackers and juice in the school’s lunchroom while MVES Principal Dr. Jody Brewer welcomed them to the school.

“I can assure you that Meadow View is the very, very best school ever,” Brewer told the parents. “They are going to learn and grow while they’re here.”

Every year, the school features a different theme for the kindergarten orientation day, said school Registrar Teresa Davenport. This year’s orientation came with a jungle theme, and school officials wore safari hats and decorated the lunchroom to mimic the look of a tropical rainforest.

“We try to change it up every year,” Davenport said.

After Brewer welcomed the students to the school, school secretary Lu Ann Gossett read the crowd a story while MVES music teacher Dennis Jones led a group of second-graders in playing xylophones.

Davenport said the day brought the largest orientation day crowd she has ever seen, and said the day brought much excitement for the students and their parents.

“This is a big day for the kids, because they get to see their new school,” Davenport said, noting most of the students were visiting the school for the first time. “The parents get excited, because they get to see the facility and meet the faculty.”