Vinemont Middle School students make their way to the cafeteria Tuesday morning for their first lunch period of the school year.

Summer vacation may be over, but both Cullman County and Cullman City Schools officials say the transition back to the classrooms was one of the smoothest to date.

CCBOE Superintendent Shane Barnette said that the 2022-2023 school year was off to “a wonderful start.”

“Everyone has been reporting that this is one of the smoothest starts ever,” Barnette told The Times just before the lunch bells rang at Vinemont Middle School on Wednesday morning. “We’ve got over 9,600 students this year and a lot of them are excited to be here.”

East Elementary Principal David Wiggins said that despite this being the first day of school, parents were dropping their children off “like seasoned professionals” as he greeted students outside of the school for their traditional hi-fives.

In an email to The Times, CCS Superintendent Kyle Kallhoff said that he was thankful to the community for their patience as Cullman Middle School and Cullman City Primary School undergo the growing pains of their capital improvement projects.

“We are excited to start the 22-23 school year and have our 3,200 students back on our campuses. Our teachers and administrators have been preparing all summer for today and the 179 school days to follow. We want to thank our parents and community for patience during drop-off and pick-up, not only this first week of school but throughout the school year, as we continue with our multi-million dollar capital improvement projects at CMS and CCPS. This is going to be a wonderful school year!”