WHATELY — Instead of champagne and a Ryan Seacrest broadcast, students and guardians rang in a new year at Whately Elementary School with Hoodsie ice cream cups and flute music on Wednesday.

Today is the first day of the school’s 2018-19 academic calendar, but new Principal Kristina Kirton scheduled a New Year’s Eve ice cream social a day early so children could get an opportunity to meet her and explore their new classrooms. Students entering pre-kindergarten through sixth grade got to meet their teachers and instructional assistants, find their designated desks and enjoy some ice cream as a cool treat.

“It’s been nice to have a chance to meet with folks. You know, people are apprehensive when it’s a new person in charge of their child,” Kirton said in her office about halfway through the event, which lasted from 2 to 4 p.m. “I know it takes a while — I’m going to have to earn some trust but people here have been so open to discussing things and sharing their thoughts about what goes on here. It’s just kind of amazing here.