Esteven Comprehensive School students, both those entering Grade 9 and the school for the first time, and those returning in other grades, got to step back into the school before classes started to load up their lockers.
Craig Palmer, Vice Principal at ECS, lays out the night for any kids new to the school.
"They come here, and what they're going to do is meet their advisory teacher to get their schedule for the semester, and the year, actually. Once they get that, they are free to go around the school, find out where their classes are, and meet their teachers because all the teachers are still here. So everyone is situated where they're going to be teaching."
"It alleviates a little stress for kids who haven't been here so that when they come next week, they at least have a face to a name and they know, 'oh, I have to go to the third floor' or 'I have to go down into the tech ed department', that sort of thing. So it's worked really well for us."
Palmer says it's also useful for helping parents through the process of their children coming to ECS, which can be daunting at first.
"They come in kind of deer in the headlights, and I say, yeah, go grab a hot dog and a drink. Once they start mingling around, there'll be lots of people here, and I think they'll leave a little bit more relaxed. They come here very tentative, and we want them to leave the building tonight knowing that, 'hey, I kind of know what's going on, and I know some faces, and next week's not going to be as scary as I think it might be.'"
Overall, Palmer hopes to build on the success of last year, with a good group of Grade 12 students that he hopes will set the tone going forward this year.
That includes Miley Granberg and Marvin Blue, two Grade 12 students who are also the co-presidents of the Student Resource Council.
Granberg says she's hoping for a great school year for the starting students.
"I'm hoping for lots of school spirit and just for it to be a positive environment for all the kids, especially the grade 9s, because I know last year was probably rough for quite a few of them, but this year I really want it to be good."
Blue, meanwhile, hopes some new resources will be utilized by all the students at the school.
"I'm hoping for a very comfortable school year. This year, we have so many more resources for the students, like a student lounge, and I'm really hoping that students end up using the resources we give them and some new things we're going to try and implement that we haven't quite thought through yet and our advisory classes, too. There are quite a few changes, and I hope they all work out."
Both Granberg and Blue are excited for the year ahead and hope to put their best foot forward academically for the school year.
Classes begin at Estevan Comprehensive School on Tuesday, September 2nd.