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The first day of school in the Independence School District was especially exciting for 2,200 students who began their year in the district for the first time.

“I just kept telling people how excited I was,” said Jeff Anger, principal at Fairmount Elementary School. “Overall, everyone was very positive. This was a change for a lot of them, but their attitudes were good and they were excited to be back at school.”

Superintendent Jim Hinson said the first day went well and was “a very quiet” start of a new year.

Seven schools transferred to the Independence district from the Kansas City School District in July when boundary lines were changed. Six of those buildings opened Monday including Van Horn High School, Nowlin Middle School and Three Trails, Fairmount, Sugar Creek and North Rock Creek/Korte elementary school. Mount Washington will not open because of the cost to repair and renovate the building.

In total, more than 2,300 new students will be attending the Independence district this year in the newly annexed area.

There were, however, some media reports Monday about “confusion” over where students where attending school. Hinson said those reports where “grossly exaggerated,” referring to only one parent who received a “welcome back” letter from both the Kansas City and Independence school districts.

The problem was caused by a database that was sent to Independence administrators earlier this year from Kansas City. The data included those students living within the boundaries of Independence and Sugar Creek, but at the time, attending Kansas City schools. However, when letters were sent out based on that database, it was discovered that at least one family who lived within the city limits of Kansas City was sent a letter from Independence as well.

“We have heard from no other families that there was a problem,” he said. “The family did not know they would be attending Kansas City schools and they wanted to attend Independence.”

What excited Hinson the most about the first day were the students filling the seats of not only the six new schools, but the remainder of the Independence district.

“I loved seeing the students walking up to school with their parents this morning,” he said. “There were a lot of smiles, a lot of excitement and some nervous expressions too. But seeing those students enter the buildings, made everything we have gone through worthwhile.”