Kids strapped on their backpacks and piled onto buses for back-to-school day on Thursday, and at least one precocious fourth grader was so excited to see his friends, his mom says he dragged her out of bed so they could catch up before class.
“We were the first ones in the school yard, because Solomon was hoping friends would be there so they could run around before class,” said Jessica Safire, mom of 8-year-old Solomon Jackson.
It was quiet outside Park Slope’s PS 10 in the hour leading up to first bell, but that changed pretty quickly, according to Safire, who described the mass of screaming scholars as a “mob scene” just before class started.
But not everyone got to school early — sixth-grader Nathaniel Boutin and dad Jason struck up a game of catch at Seventh and Prospect avenues as they waited for the yellow bus to Boerum Hill’s MS 447, which was so late they ended up bailing and heading underground, the elder Boutin said.
“The poor guy — we had to basically leave and take the subway,” the dad said.
Jackson reports that most kids were eager to get to school so they could catch up with friends who they hadn’t seen much of over the summer, and he was keeping his fingers crossed that he’d be sharing a class with some of his schoolyard chums.
“I saw a lot of my friends, and one of them is in my class,” he said.
But not every kid was so lucky. Many friends part ways as they head into higher grades, and only two kids from Nathaniel Boutin’s old class joined him as he entered middle school, according to his dad.
On the bright side, if his bus keeps showing up late, he’ll be more than ready to try out for the MS 447 baseball team, his father said.
“I had an older son and that’s where he learned to pitch,” said Jason Boutin.
