PROCTORVILLE - Sheri Nelson and Missy Van Horn stood in the hallway of Fairland West Elementary Monday, barely able to contain their children's excitement about being back in school.

"I can't wait," 9 -year-old Savannah Nelson said.

Fairland Local Schools hosted "Back to School Night" at Fairland East and Fairland West Elementary.

Students and parents were invited to visit classrooms, meet teachers and tour the buildings. The first day of school for students is Thursday.

Although the children said they are ready to return to school, both mothers admit that the beginning of a new school year brings mixed feelings.

"It means they are all really growing up too fast," Nelson said.

Sheri Nelson said she has mixed feelings about her children, Sam, 10, and Savannah, 9 returning to school. Savannah, on the other hand, said she is looking forward to seeing her friends. The student wanted to come Monday to see who her teacher was.

Missy Van Horn said she is excited about school starting this year. Her daughter, Kaleigh, will be starting the fourth grade and her son, Kollin, will be starting kindergarten.

"I'm excited, but sad," she said. "Because my youngest is going and I'm going to be alone."

Kaleigh said she is really excited to start school because she is looking forward to learning more stuff and seeing her friends.

"I really like school," she said.

Missy said Kaleigh really does like school and her daughter is a good student. Fairland is a great school and their family really loves it, Missy said.

Along with touring the classrooms, parents could tour the library and computer labs.

Rebecca Zimmerman teaches in the computer lab where the students work with math and reading. They use a computer program called SucessMaker, where all the students spend a certain amount of time everyday working on math and reading.

The program allows students to work at their own speed and teachers are present to monitor each student and answer questions.

The program has been beneficial to all the students and that it is good for students at each end of the educational graph, Zimmerman said.

As the night wound down, Taylor Staten, 8, was in her new classroom meeting her teacher. Staten said she is looking forward to learning this year, but that she is sad that summer is over.

When the Statens left the classroom, Taylor's teacher walks to the door as she said, "I can't wait until Thursday."