HOT SPRINGS, Ark. — Saturday was a difficult one for Jenny Kyle.
"It's kinda bittersweet, it's exciting but at the same time it's kinda hard," she said. "It's kinda hard to see her here, but we know it's the right thing."
Kyle moved her daughter, Abbott, into the Arkansas School for Math, Science and the Arts, a residential high school in Hot Springs, Saturday.
"Mainly I'm nervous, but excited as well," Abbott said.
The excitement for the year doesn't stop just there.
The energy was easy to see among students and faculty members alike.
"In many ways, the start of a school year is always an exciting time," Corey Alderdice, Director for ASMSA, said. "There's uncertainty, there are nerves, but also there's a sense of renewal and a chance to do things even better than before."
This year, they'll have that chance.
COVID-19 guidelines are still in place, and for a place where everyone lives together, those are important.
"The one benefit that we have is that we know what this looks like at full operation with a year under our belts," Alderdice said.
"And a year in which, very fortunately, we had zero positive student cases on campus last year."
Alderdice knows how the virus can affect us first-hand. His son tested positive for COVID-19, and because of that, he's forced to isolate himself from his family.
"That I'd isolate separately, so for the moment, I'm actually living on campus, with our students," he said.
It's what he has to do to make sure students as ASMSA stay safe, and a good time to lead by example, Alderdice said.
"All of these things we're asking you to do, wearing a mask, social distance, show care for each other, I'm going to be living those things firsthand myself these first weeks," he said.
While it's been difficult to say goodbye to her oldest daughter, Kyle said she knows she's safe.
"It just feels like a bubble," she said. "Almost like this is what we are going to do in order to keep our campus thriving and keep it alive and safe."
And that'll make Abbott's year much easier, too.
"I guess the one thing I want people to take away from this is it's about all of us," she said. "It's community, it's keeping everyone safe, and the only way this is going to work is if we all work together to keep safe."
Students took rapid COVID tests prior to entering campus buildings Saturday. Signs on doors say masks are encouraged, but everyone moving in today was wearing a face covering.