GONZALES - Many parents are eager for their children to head back to the classroom. 

“I'm ready to send her back. She's had a very fun summer,” said mom and store owner, Tia Whittington.

At her store in Gonzales, H. Kyle Boutique, Whittington has been working on back-to-school orders like book sacks, lunchboxes, rain coats, and uniforms.

“I started getting school orders probably about three years ago between the Griffin Girls at Dutchtown High and Central Middle's dance team as well,” she said.

Although she has plenty of work to do at her store, she is also getting ready for her own little one, who will be starting first grade in Ascension Parish.

“We do things last minute, so like this year I knew that I wouldn't be able to take care of school supplies, so I actually used a school supply concierge service,” she explained as she setup a school jacket for embroidery.

Just as she really got going on her back-to-school embroidery orders, she was back at school, with her daughter at Dutchtown Primary.

“Parents are happy that we're not walking toward the back road for those T-buildings because we did have a hike back there,” laughed Principal Sandra Alfred.

With nearly 900 students and the first two-story building at any primary school in the parish, Dutchtown Primary is welcoming back students and introducing them to a whole new facility.

“It's significant because we've been in T-buildings probably over 20 years and our older students, the 5th graders, were the ones in the T-buildings and now they have more space,” explained Alfred. 

With so much to do, including getting new schedules, bus routes, and more, parents are trying to navigate the newness of a new school year. As for the students eager to learn, it's all about smoothly transitioning back to school.

Students in Ascension return to school August 8, and it will also be the first day open for their newest school, Bullion Primary in Prairieville.

East Baton Rouge students also return on August 8, and Livingston students follow on August 9.