By EMILY SPARACINO / Staff Writer

CHELSEA – As Jamiece Gray walked her 5-year-old nephew Johnathan Hayes to his classroom at Forest Oaks Elementary School on Aug. 12, a big smile spread across his face when he thought about the new school year.

“It’s going to be good,” Hayes said.

Gray, who took Hayes to school for his mother, an educator, said she thought his first year at FOES would be good, too.

“He’s been very excited and has been looking forward to it,” Gray said. “The staff has already been very welcoming to him and to us.”

FOES administrators and teachers greeted Gray and dozens of other parents dropping off their children before the school day kicked off at 8 a.m. with morning announcements.

Rob and Jasmine Hudson took their 5-year-old son, Cash, to his kindergarten classroom.

“He’s my last one at home, so I’m a little sad about it, but we love it here so it will be good,” Jasmine Hudson said.

Theressa Boumann said her 8-year-old daughter Addison, a third grader at FOES this year, had a “fabulous morning,” and Boumann commended the school for always allowing parents to walk their children into the school.

“This administration is so kind to let parents have that moment with their children,” Boumann said.

Aimee Nichols said her sons, Ben and Sam, were excited about their new principal at FOES, Sasha Baker.

As a new principal, Baker said she had a “very similar feeling” as the students.

“It’s my very first day too, so I’m just as excited as the students are,” Baker said.

Baker served as the assistant principal at Oak Mountain Intermediate School for three years before the Shelby County Board of Education approved her for the FOES principal position in June, after Dr. Resia Brooks left to accept a different position in the school system.

Baker spoke to parents and students as they passed her in the hallway, offering encouragement and well wishes.

“We’re going to take good care of them,” Baker said to one parent, referring to the 713 students enrolled at the school.

“At Forest Oaks, our theme for the year is ‘Make Your Mark,'” she noted. “We just want to make our mark and help students make their mark.”