Highlands Elementary School faculty and staff rolled out the red carpet to welcome 600 students on their first day of the 2026-27 school year on Wednesday morning.
With the energy high and music blasting, students of all grades got the opportunity to high-five, hug and meet their teachers while they walked down the red carpet into the gates of school.
Ernestina Aguilar, principal at Highlands Elementary, was on a microphone saying words of encouragement to the students as they were going into school.
“I think it’s really important to have that first impression and everybody’s nervous and everybody doesn’t know where to go with the first day of school,” Aguilar said. “So, it kind of funnels everybody and we’re like cheering for them and we’re making sure that they’re feeling excited about their first day. So, it’s just one point of contact, right? That everybody kind of comes through.”
Aguilar said the Saugus Union School District has been focusing on the social-emotional component of schooling. She added that the educators focus on the academic part as well but want to make the effort to uplift the power of connections and relationships.
“And so, it starts with day one. It starts with the greeting at the door, and so we have that practice. So, all our teachers at the 8 o’clock bell, they all greeted students coming into their classroom door in their own special way, right,” Aguilar said.
Going into the new school year, Aguilar wants to elevate the importance of academics and students’ behaviors.
“We know that kids who don’t like to come to school don’t learn, right? So, they go hand in hand. If they want to come to school, they love learning, but they also want to feel safe and supported. They want to feel like people care,” Aguilar said. “And so, we want to make sure that our practices are matching that social-emotional need.”
Michelle Tensen and her daughter, Juliette, 5, were walking in line to go into the school. Michelle said she was excited for her daughter to start her academic journey because she is an educator, and Juliette was beginning kindergarten.
She said it felt surreal for her daughter to be a part of the Highlands Hawks community because her family moved to Santa Clarita for the education.
“I mean, she’s enrolled in the dual language program here. It just, it reminds me (of) the sacrifice (my husband and I made), it’s all paid off. We moved away from our families. We moved up to Santa Clarita. We love it here,” Tensen said. “But to just be a part of a community now, tied to an actual school, is very exciting, and we can’t wait to get involved and volunteer and be in the (Parent Teacher Association) and all of the things.”
Juliette said she was excited to start school and make some new friends.
Michelle added that because she and her husband are educators, it felt like a full circle moment to see her daughter starting school.
Brielle Peterson, 10, was walking with her mother, Jennifer, and said she was excited but sad about going into the fifth grade.
“I feel kind of sad because I’ve been here basically my whole life, but since I’m going into middle school soon, I think it will be good for a new school,” Brielle said.
Jennifer said it feels like a whirlwind seeing her children growing up because her oldest was going into eighth grade.
“It’s like a blink of an eye. I can’t believe I have a kid almost going into high school in a year, and then she’ll be going into middle school, and then we just kind of started over, and we have, I have a 7-month-old at home,” Jennifer said.
Jennifer added that the community at Highlands is amazing and that her family has been fortunate to have wonderful teachers throughout the experience.
Brielle said she loves being a Highlands Hawk because everyone is nice, and they help students when they need something.
After it was all said and done, the music died down and the students shuffled in to begin the new school year.
