As summer vacation draws to close, kids across the High Country dread those three little words: back to school.

After what seemed to be an incredibly short vacation, teachers and students alike will drag themselves back into the classroom for the first day of class on Wednesday.

Not all of Ashe County is dreading the start of a new school year; in fact some are embracing a fresh start as in the case of school superintendent Donnie Johnson.

“We are really excited about this school year,” Johnson said. “Things will be kind of hectic the first week with the traffic situation and just generally getting use to a new academic year.”

Traffic and bussing concerns seem to be at the top of both the sheriff’s department and the school system’s agenda. Mountain View and Westwood Elementary will pose the major obstacles in terms of traffic, as the Ashe County Sheriff’s department will be directing traffic for the first couple weeks of the school year.

“The problem is that with the start of a new school year, parents want to be able to take their kids to school to ensure a proper send off, but with gas prices at an all time high, we are encouraging parents to let children ride the bus instead. This will also help relieve issues with traffic congestion.” Johnson said.

Last year, Ashe County Schools requested that a study be conducted by the North Carolina Department of Transportation that would investigate the possibility of prohibiting a left turn leaving each school. In essence, prohibiting such a maneuver would decrease congestion. To date, the school system is yet to discover the results to the study.

Despite the chaos and anxiety that surrounds the start of a fresh school year, Johnson remains optimistic that everything will fall into place.

“We hope that everyone will just be patient until things get settled in,” Johnson said. “It may take a couple of weeks, but after that things should be running smoothly.”

The first day of classes at Wilkes Community College is Monday, Aug. 18 and Appalachian State University classes will begin on Aug. 26.