Despite blisteringly hot weather, North Haven’s first day of school went refreshingly well, according to education administrators.

A hammering sun hung above Clintonville Elementary School at 8 a.m. on Sept. 1 as teachers and parents awaited the new year’s first busload of students. Maria Gorgano and her husband showed up before all non-staff, looking to snap pictures of their sons’ arrival.

“They got on the bus and we raced here to take photographs of them,” Gorgano said, a digital camera dangling from her arm. “We take these photos every year.”

“They’re typical boys — we embarrass them,” she added.

Gorgano’s kids were entering the second and fifth grades at Clintonville. “The little one is looking forward to school,” she said with a laugh.

Living not far from Clintonville, Jonathan Carmen chose to drive his son Zachary into school. “He’s excited for the first day,” Carmen said. “He wanted to be here early.”

Zachary is going into 2010 as a first grader. “My teacher is Mrs. Gambardella,” he said.

Jonathan and his son lent an interesting twist to first-day photos. Passing a camera back and forth, they took turns capturing shots of one another, cataloguing the day equally for both. Reporting early to school came with perks for Zachary — Clintonville principal Lauretta Dowling had time to scope out space for her signature on a bright blue cast on the boy’s left arm.

By the time Clintonville’s first bus rolled around to unload its cargo of children, numerous parents had amassed to enjoy Wednesday’s special moment as a family.

Summers’ end means transitions from grade to grade, and, for sixth and ninth graders, building to building.

“The first day of school was very good,” said North Haven High School principal Dr. Russell Dallai just before the dismissal bell. “It went very smoothly. It was great to see the students back. I got to meet the new ninth graders today — they were terrific and very well behaved.”

NHHS holds opening day meetings with all four grades housed within the school. The freshman get-together can become a sort of tutorial. “It really is an introduction to the school,” Dallai said, “and the policies, most of all. We want to familiarize them with anything they need to know to feel at home here.”

“It’s an exhortation to them to do their best,” he added of the freshman class meeting. “We really want them to come in and challenge themselves academically.”

 “We have over 50 clubs and groups at the school,” Dallai continued. “We want them to get involved, and take leadership.”

Dallai praised North Haven’s 2010 ninth grade class. “We just hear great things about them,” he said of the freshmen. “It’s been a pleasure to meet them. They seem like a really great group and a good addition to the school.”

Dallai said he and his staff were thrilled to be back. “I’ve been talking to the teachers and many have said that it felt like they never left,” he said. “We’re getting into the swing of what we love. I’m happy to be here.”

Next door, North Haven Middle School principal Philip Piazza and his staff offered similar services for his new crop of sixth graders. “We spent a little extra time today on the sixth graders,” he said at day’s end. “We gave them extra time at their lockers to go over their combinations, and to find their way around the halls.”

Having graduated last year from elementary schools, sixth grade students are entering a whole different world. “It went even a little bit better this year,” Piazza said. “Beside our annual orientation, our PTSA held a sixth grade ice cream social on Monday.”

“The social was new to this year,” he added. “It was a chance for them to socialize and meet new friends.”

Mitigating uncertainty was an ice cream social goal. “It helped students familiarize with the building,” Piazza said. “I think it helped them to relax as they were coming in. They were allowed to look where their classes would be held.”

“They seemed very excited,” he added of the sixth graders. “They couldn’t wait to meet their teachers, and see which friends where in their classes. They seemed very excited to be in the building.”

In fact, Piazza thought his school’s first day suffered only from excessive humidity. “I want to commend the teachers and students for making it through the heat,” he said. “It really was unbearable, but the teachers and students made the day very smooth.”

“The only thing that got in our way today was the heat,” Piazza added. “It was brutal in the building, but the teachers and the kids fought through it. Everybody was great. All the kids seemed to have a great first day.”