By Kathleen Acuff

Gabrielle Anderson is ready to lead her classmates out the door at the end of their first day of the new extended-day kindergarten at Bullis-Purissima Elementary School.

Keith Moody, interim principal at Mountain View High School, sounded both excited about the first week of school and glad it was over last Friday. When classes resumed for the year Aug. 24, Moody stepped out from behind the scenes to fill in for Pat Hyland. Until the principal’s illness allows her to return, Moody will be front and center.

“This is the first time I’ve been the go-to person dealing with all the little situations that arise, and I miss having Pat here to mentor me,” he said. “Fortunately, Matt Neely and Donna Peltz are doing a tremendous job of running interference. Things are running pretty smoothly.”

Mountain View’s 1,800 students kicked the year off with a spirited rally.

“We figured we’d come back and get all fired up,” Moody said.

At Bullis-Purissima Elementary School in Los Altos Hills, 100 children entered the Los Altos School District’s first extended-day kindergarten classes last Wednesday. Covington Principal Leslie Crane, who oversees the Bullis campus, said the opening went smoothly.

“We need some more paint, but the classrooms have been utterly transformed. They’re true kindergarten classrooms, alive with books, pictures, play rugs and activity centers,” she said.

At Covington, “The energy here is just amazing. The kids are so happy to be back, and the parents are just giddy,” she added.

Crane said the school has 56 new families this year and is using a buddy system to introduce newcomers to school life.