‘‘Why?” Craig asked Jyzaiah, who remained non-responsive, but Craig continued. ‘‘It’s a big school, ain’t it?”

Jyzaiah nodded.

‘‘You’ll be fine.”

It was a different Jyzaiah than the one Craig saw earlier.

‘‘He woke up this morning excited,” Craig said while laughing. ‘‘Now he sees it and he’s scared.”

Craig and her son were part of Monday’s steady stream of kindergartners, pre-kindergartners and parents who shuffled into the school cafeteria. The children ate breakfast and parents drank orange juice and munched on doughnuts courtesy of the District Heights Elementary School PTA.

Looks of relief and a few grins were evident on the faces of parents holding the hands of their little ones as they led them into the building. Many children were reserved and stayed close to their mothers, while a few found old summertime playmates who would now become classmates.

Deonta Lewis, 4, was ready to leave for school before his mother, Teia Lewis, even woke up. He even asked his mother to buy him a blue tie to go with his blue slacks and white polo shirt — the school’s uniform — to wear on his first day of pre-kindergarten.

‘‘I think they’re going to put him in a higher class,” Teia Lewis said, who added that Deonta’s grandmother home schooled him until now. ‘‘He knows all his colors and numbers. He’s very intelligent. He’s four going on 24.”

Deonta wasn’t at all nervous about the first day, which he told his mother before the start of class. He was excited to meet new friends.

Principal Connie Jones said all new pupils, pre-kindergarten and kindergarten students went to orientation Aug. 16 where children went on a tour of the school and met teachers so they wouldn’t have ‘‘the jitteries” on the first day.

Jones, who is starting her 14th year as principal, said she noticed recently that parents sending their kids to school for the first time seem to have more interest in their child’s academic success than parents have in the past.

‘‘The parents seem more open to work with the teachers and the school,” Jones said. [The children] weren’t as prepared as they are now. When they leave pre K and go to kindergarten, they are almost reading. They have a wide vocabulary they can use. They’re able to write their names. The basic things we used to teach in kindergarten we no longer have to spend a lot of time on it.”

Jennifer Bumbray has ‘‘two children down, one to go” attending school at District Heights. Her son Trejon, 6, is starting the second grade, and daughter Trinity, 5, is starting school as a kindergartner.

‘‘She’s excited she can finally go [to school] with her brother,” Bumbray said.

Bumbray said her children are excited to start school, and being there will keep them busy now that the summer is over.

‘‘They’re early birds, even during the summer time they’re up,” Bumbray said. ‘‘Now that they have a purpose [for getting up], we’ll see.”

E-mail Natalie McGill at nmcgill@gazette.net.