‘‘Mrs. Pitts?” children asked tentatively, many confused by what they saw.

Some pupils laughed when Pitts entered their class to congratulate them for doing well on the test. Others just looked at her, puzzled.

Not only did Pitts make good on a deal she made with pupils if they passed the Maryland School Assessment test. She used the costume as a way to get them excited about the first day of school.

‘‘At the beginning of school I want them to feel relaxed and to let them know [school is] a place for fun and learning,” she said. ‘‘So [wearing the costume today] worked out.”

Though some pupils had forgotten about Pitts’ promise, fifth-grader Sonia Ayala, 10, said she was expecting to see her principal dressed like a clown.

‘‘It was really funny to see her today,” she said. She said she was excited and ready for the upcoming school year.

While some schools focused on getting pupils eager for classroom work, others also put a special focus on making sure teachers were ready for the start of the school year. For instance, the entire teaching staff at Mount Rainier Elementary School — about 20 teachers and administrators — participated in a yoga class Aug. 16 at Joe’s Movement Emporium, a center that offers performance arts classes.

Mount Rainier Principal Janet Reed said she wanted her teachers to have at least one yoga class to prepare for the beginning of school.

‘‘Yoga has always classically been viewed as a way to focus and release tension,” she said. ‘‘What’s a better thing for teachers to do [right before school starts]?”

Reed said many of the teachers weren’t sure if they should attend the class because they still needed to prepare their classrooms.

‘‘But I think they’re happy they’ve come and now they’re relaxed as they go back to work on their rooms,” she said.

Greg Puglilese, a first-grade reading recovery teacher, said he had never seen teachers take a yoga class to prepare for school.

‘‘I thought it was a refreshing way to approach the school year,” said Puglilese, who has been teaching for five years. ‘‘I’m very encouraged by the tone of our school because of things like this.”

Other area schools made more traditional preparations. Chillum Elementary School welcomed 18 new families at an orientation Aug. 16.

Chillum received some students from other county public schools this year as a result of the federal No Child Left Behind Act, which allows parents to transfer their children to a school that is doing well if their home school does not meet state academic standards.

‘‘Orientation is normally only for pre-[kindergarten] and kindergarten [families] ... but this year it was for all new students,” said Sheila Jefferson, Chillum’s principal.

Because of the number of transferring students, this was also the school’s first year to have buses.

‘‘We’ve always been a walking school,” she said. ‘‘Everything went fine [with the buses]. There are two buses, [and the] one for kindergartners was a little off schedule, but everything went fine.”

E-mail Maya T. Prabhu at mprabhu@gazette.net.