Since she’d been through this before, Jennifer Wallace didn’t expect such a strong tug on her heart.

But, more than once, that tug kept Wallace from leaving her daughter’s side Monday on the first day of school at Coupeville Elementary School.

“Bye mommy,” Sydney Wallace said to her mom from her seat in Diane Skaley’s second-grade classroom.

Her mom returned to rub her cheek one more time.

“I didn’t want to go,” she said.

Nerves and emotions that come with the start of a new school year were on display Monday as Coupeville opened its doors a week earlier than other school districts on Whidbey Island.

“Today, she and I both changed our outfits twice,” said Jennifer Marzocca, whose daughter, Chloe, started third grade.

Coupeville started the last day of August instead of the traditional beginning after Labor Day because of how late the holiday fell on the calendar this year.

Fall-like conditions that included light rain and cool temperatures made the occasion seem all the more fitting.

Parents new to the school district had to learn new routines, too, such as where to pick up their children after school.

Sue Rogers discovered the tearful consequences of a wrong turn from her son, Nikolas, a first grader.

“I wasn’t waiting at the right spot, so I got in trouble,” Sue Rogers said.

All and all, it was a good first day, said David Ebersole, principal at the elementary school.

“It’s new. It’s exciting,” he said. “You see a lot of energy. We’re off to a pretty good start.”

The elementary school is welcoming three classes of kindergartners as the school district shifts to full-day kindergarten Monday through Friday.

Those classes won’t start until Thursday. In the meantime, the teachers are easing into the transition by meeting with students and their parents.

“It’s always fun,” said Christy Messner, who’s entering her sixth year of teaching kindergarten at Coupeville. “It’s fun to get to know the kids one-on-one so you get to learn a little bit about them.”

Student enrollment in the school district was 953 students, including a high school senior class of 91.

The first official count will take place Thursday.

“It was a wonderful beginning to school,” said Jim Shank, the school district’s superintendent and high school principal. “We have a great staff and great student body. We are all looking forward to accomplishing our mission of ‘high levels of learning for all students.’ ”