Excitement and nerves filled school hallways across Santa Maria on Thursday morning, as thousands of students returned to classrooms for the first day of the academic year.

At Arellanes Junior High School, the day started with seventh graders ushered in by welcoming staff and WEB leaders — eighth grade students wore bright pink shirts. WEB stands for "Where Everybody Belongs," and the student leaders were stationed across campus to help new students find their classes and feel at home.

“This morning was great, everything went really smoothly,” said Anastasia Sosa, an assistant principal at Arellanes who works primarily with seventh graders. “We were able to get the kids in class when the bell rang. They came in, all the adults had clipboards with the students’ first-period homeroom class

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