By NEAL WAGNER / Managing Editor

ALABASTER – The about 30 incoming kindergarteners gathered outside the Creek View Elementary School front office during an April 27 school tour had an enthusiastic answer when school secretary Shawn Pate asked if they were ready for next year.

“Are you guys ready to come to school?” Pate asked.

“Yeah!” the children shouted in unison.

When August rolls around, many of the incoming kindergarteners will have a better idea of what to expect on their first day of school thanks to the day’s kindergarten tour and snack event.

Throughout the morning, the kids and their parents met their future teachers, administrators, counselors and more as they toured the building they will be spending the next few years in.

“We are so excited you all are here this morning,” said CVES Principal Charissa Cole. “We have the best school in Alabama, and you’ll find that out immediately when you start touring the building.”

CVES has organized the event for incoming kindergartners for the past few years in an effort to make the first day of school a little less stressful for the new students and their parents.

When they arrive at the school in a few months, the kids will join CVES’s about 900-student enrollment served by about 120 staff members, Cole said. The visitors also learned about the school’s parent-teacher organization, and learned ways they can get involved in their students’ education over the next few years.

Kindergarten teacher Paige Pearson introduced several of the school’s staff members – including the principals, school nurse and librarian – to the students, and shared many of the current kindergarteners’ favorite aspects of attending CVES.

Among the current kindergarteners, art, recess, math projects, making new friends and music topped their list of favorite things to do at school, Pearson said.

“I want you to feel safe in this environment,” Pearson told the students and parents. “We’ve got 10 great kindergarten teachers, and we’ve got a great support staff.

“We wanted to be here today to show you what we love about kindergarten,” Pearson added.