NEW ALBANY, Ind. (WDRB) -- Educators are excited to welcome New Albany Floyd County students back for the new year as fall classes get underway. 

Administrators at several schools in the district were up early Monday to prepare for the first day.  There's about 12,000 students in NAFCS with 1,200 full-time staff members, including 750 teachers and 375 part-time workers, according to the district's website. 

At New Albany High School on Monday morning, Principal Michelle Ginkins was excited to welcome students back. 

"The most exciting part is it's just a fresh start for all the students," she said. "The freshmen have a little bit of anxiety, so we try to let them know that even the seniors will be lost on a couple of their classes, and we'll be out in the hall helping them. ... You can just feel the excitement among the kids."

Although some schools in surrounding districts have struggled to find enough teachers, New Albany High School is fully-staffed. 

"We were mainly staffed right after school being out, or before school being out," Ginkins said. "We did have a couple over the summer that we had to take care of but we were able to do that with no problem and we're looking forward to having some new teachers here on our team."

The transportation department is mostly staffed as well. With more than 100 bus drivers, they feel good about getting between 7,000-8,000 students to and from school.

Transportation Director Eric Reid said they are always hiring for back-up staff. He recommends anyone interested in becoming a bus driver and going through the six- to eight-week training program to contact the district.

For retiring interim superintendent Bill Briscoe, "every first day is exciting.

"I've been in this job probably for 44 years. And every night before that, it's hard to sleep. You're just anticipating things. But we're still looking forward to things. This is my final first day."

WDRB in the Morning's Sterling Riggs sat down for an interview with Briscoe, who outlined three important things for students and parents to know on the first day of school. 

Bill Briscoe outlines the 3 most important things to know on the 1st day.

About 400 Slate Run Elementary School students piled through the doors this morning with a full staff greeting them. They played a song at the beginning of the day to get the kids excited.

NAFCS is still looking for a permanent superintendent to take over after the previous one retried. Briscoe said the transition will be seamless when a replacement is named.

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