When Cassidy Boughton woke up Wednesday morning for the first day of school, she didn’t know what to expect. This was going to be a very different start to the school year.

Instead of walking through the doors at First District Elementary School with her older sister, Chloe, the two girls would be split up to attend temporary schools due to First District’s lagging renovations.

“I’m really excited about going to school at the church because I went there with my parents (to an open house) and it’s really nice,” Cassidy said as she was waiting for the bus to pick her up in front of her house. “But it seems odd that I will actually be in church!”

After the girls got on the bus, David and Lori Boughton crossed their fingers and hoped for the best.

“Everything seems so convoluted — we’re not even 100 percent sure of all of the transportation plans,” David said. “But we’re trying to make the most of a bad situation.”

First District and Second District elementary schools each are undergoing extensive renovations. Crews at both schools have worked throughout the summer, but due to a few unanticipated delays, First District was deemed “not ready” for students to return yet. When the situation became obvious to Superintendent Mike Dolecki, the district developed an alternative plan to bus students to two other sites.

“We went to the open house at both schools on Tuesday, and what we saw satisfied us,” Lori said. “Everyone seemed very accommodating, but it’s not the same as them being in their own classrooms in their own school. But where they are will have to do for now.”

So, the Boughton sisters rode the bus together to the First Christian Church on North Main Street Extension where Chloe said good-bye and headed into her temporary sixth-grade classroom. And Cassidy remained on the bus. She and some other students then continued on to the First Church of God on Leslie Road.

As the bus pulled up to the church, she could easily see the walkway into the entrance because it was marked by lines of brightly colored balloons, and greeters were on hand to direct the students past the piles of boxes in the entrance and on to their assigned classrooms.

When she arrived in the classroom, she and the other students were greeted by their teacher, Mrs. Malone.

“Welcome to First District Elementary School at the First Church of God!” she said with a smile.

Instead of sitting at individual student-sized desks, Cassidy and her classmates sat at long tables and used adult-sized chairs. And because there were no coat hooks or closets, they were asked to put their coats into their backpacks.

“It’s very important to maintain good housekeeping,” Mrs. Malone said. “Think of your backpacks as your desks — there are no cabinets, so, except for the coloring books, crayons and scissors on your desk, you should keep everything inside of your backpack.”

As Cassidy sat and waited until the “walkers” from First District were transported to the church, she colored a name page for her homework portfolio.

“It (the classroom) is pretty small, but it’s a really nice room. It even has a TV on the wall!” she said, pointing to the high-definition, flat-screen television on the wall.