Monday marked the first day of school for the Carson City School District (CCSD). Everyone we spoke to was excited for the new school year in the Capital City.

All grades except kindergarten and pre-k returned to class Monday morning, and the District Superintendent says they're rolling out a new curriculum.

AJ Feuling says English Language Arts classes will look a little different for elementary school students this year.

"We're really trying to focus on building our kids for their future and getting that base of success in English," Feuling said.

He says the change follows another curriculum change made last year to another set of core classes.

"We had a lot of success last year rolling that out with math," Feuling said. "We saw some enormous gains for our kids."

A lot of work has gone in to giving CCSD's schools a fresher look, including renovated restrooms at Carson Middle Schools and new carpeting in classrooms across the district.

Feuling says these projects are part of an effort to provide a vibrant learning environment for students in school buildings that are over 30 years old.

He adds that staffing has gone well, with only six vacant positions in the whole district.

Parents are also feeling great about school starting up again.

Hannah Dehaven says her daughter started second grade on Monday.

"It's always a mad dash, that first day of school," she said. "But my daughter's excited and we're excited."

Safety is also important to think about at school buildings. Al Seeliger Elementary School Principal Kari Pryor says she's confident her school's buildings will be safe for the children.

CCSD makes it a priority to have school resource officers on every campus.

She says she's made sure her students know what to do in an emergency.

"We partner with our Carson City deputies to make sure that we have gone over all of the drills, the safety drills we've practiced, with communicating to the students how to do those drills in case there was an emergency," Pryor said.

She adds that she is super excited for the new school year.

For younger kids, kindergarten and pre-k starts up on Wednesday, August 20.