Mamaroneck Schools Open for Half Day Monday

Crossing guards were at their posts throughout Larchmont and Mamaroneck Monday as some students in the Mamaroneck district started the new school year.

Students at the elementary schools went for a half day, leaving for home at 11:45 a.m. Only the sixth graders were required to show up at Hommocks Middle School for a half day, as were the ninth grade students at Mamaroneck High School. Tuesday will be the first full day of school for all students, with the exception of kindergarten.

District spokeswoman Debbie Manetta said having the sixth and ninth graders only in on the first day gave them the opportunity to familiarize themselves with new surroundings.

She said they went through a compressed schedule so they could figure out how to get from class to class.

A group of high school seniors, called Caprice Advisors, trained to help incoming freshman on their first day.

Larchmont resident Mac Benson, a senior, said he's been in eight different schools in his life, so he knows what it feels like to be the newcomer.

And besides, the high school isn't the easiest place to find your way around if you haven't had time to get used to it, he said.

"We are all willing to help out—for now or for the rest of the school year," Benson said.