When is the first day of school in Minnesota? It depends.

Staggered starts are nothing new for Minnetonka elementary schools. The school district will begin classes for grades 1-12 on Tuesday, Sept. 3, and welcome kindergarten students on Thursday of the same week. However, kindergarten students and their families will be invited to school earlier in the week to meet teachers and tour classrooms. This is also when kindergarten teachers will conduct their students’ first assessments.

The whole school benefits from the “soft start” for the youngest students, said Curt Carpenter, principal of Clear Springs Elementary in Minnetonka. “When the kindergarteners arrive, we are ready to give them our attention and ensure a good start because grades 1 through 5 are already fully engaged.”

Establishing a day for transition students could also prove to be an opportunity for older students to demonstrate leadership qualities, according to school officials.

At Forest Lake, a select group of eighth-grade mentors will spend Tuesday leading team-building activities and offering new seventh-graders tips on adjusting to middle school before all other eighth-graders join them in the building on Wednesday.

“It makes it fun and really positive,” said Jason Miller, principal of Forest Lake Area Middle School. “I think it really sets the stage for a positive school year.”

A group of experienced student leaders also helped plan the events for Wayzata’s first “Day Zero” for sixth-graders. The older students were determined, Bennett said, that sixth-graders should go home feeling welcomed, excited and less overwhelmed after their first day.