While yesterday marked the first day of school under the new calendar, only about a fourth of Hawai'i's 175,000 public school students returned to the classroom.

Individual schools are given some flexibility in the start date, and students are set to return on a staggered schedule that goes through Friday.

Meanwhile, the state Department of Education continues to study whether to add a week to the six-week summer vacation.

Roughly 87 schools — or a third of the 256 public schools — are expected to start today. Nearly all schoolchildren will be back by tomorrow, according to the state Department of Education.

The staggered schedule demonstrates that although public schools are following roughly the same calendar, there is some variety, said DOE spokesman Greg Knudsen.

That's because individual schools are allotted six teacher workdays, which may be taken at any time during the school year, Knudsen said.

"There are 184 days on the official calendar, but the new contract allows schools to schedule two waiver days. Along with the four professional development days, there are in effect 178 instructional days," Knudsen said.

The calendar, which was instituted last year, also included a shortened six-week summer vacation, and Knudsen said the department is still examining the schedule closely and has already begun to consider lengthening summer vacation by at least a week.

"There are many effects of the shortened summer," he said. Education officials have said that it may not leave enough time for students to get extra credits in summer school.

Some education officials have discussed possibly shortening the three-week winter break by a week in order to accommodate a seven-week summer, he said.

If the calendar were to be tweaked, changes wouldn't go into effect until at least summer 2009.

A SHORTER SUMMER

Many have embraced the new unified calendar, including Kapalama Elementary School principal Patricia Dang.

The short break after each quarter "gives the students a chance to rest up and come back. And they won't forget everything they've learned," she said.

Parents like the schedule too, she said.

"They're happy to get (their kids) back to school," she said.

Some principals said they were concerned that the shortened summer vacation could result in mass absenteeism, although officials yesterday said there was no quantifiable evidence that was the case.

Knudsen said absences are expected in the beginning of the year regardless of the length of the summer break. "(The unified calendar) still has to be examined and we will be asking specifically about that," he said.

At least for some Hawai'i public school students, yesterday was the official end of summer.

At Jefferson Elementary School in Waikiki, parents and students huddled around a bulletin board outside the library searching for classroom assignments.

"Summer was a little short this year," said school principal Vivian Hee, standing among the crowd. "It looks like everyone wanted a little more vacation," she said, laughing.

Tai Nunies and her daughter, Harley, stood outside Celia Ann Viernes' first-grade class waiting for the bell to ring.

Harley clutched her overstuffed backpack scanning the school yard for familiar faces. Her brother, Nakoa, a fourth-grader, had already run off with his group of friends.

"They were really looking forward to starting school again. I'm not sure if they cared about the short summer," said Nunies, who works as a finance manager. "It's good for me, anyway."

Some older students who were used to longer summer breaks weren't as happy.

FIRST-DAY BLUES

On Maui, Lokelani Intermediate School sixth-grader Malia Tolutau said she wasn't ready to start classes.

"I didn't get all my school supplies. I didn't get paper towels or those notebooks without the lines," she said. "And I didn't read for the summer and we were supposed to."

A group of four friends sitting with Tolutau nodded their heads, acknowledging that they, too, skipped the summer reading assignment.

The first day of school was, of course, filled with lots of time for students to get to know their new surroundings.

Lokelani Intermediate's acting principal Jay Petrakis greeted students as they checked the list of homeroom assignments posted by the student drop-off site. He said yesterday was all about the school's 230 sixth-graders, who were making the transition from elementary school to a new campus.

"They don't know where they are going. It can be overwhelming," he said. "They're not used to switching classes and being on their own. They're not used to making independent choices."

Today, Lokelani's 500 or so seventh- and eighth-graders will report to class.

At Jefferson Elementary School, sixth-grade teacher Fayanne Sasaoka introduced her check-in system of attendance before gathering her 19 students to go outside for what will become their daily run around the school yard.

"The first day of school is really about setting the ground rules," said principal Hee, watching Sasaoka's students jogging in the distance. "When the students know what is expected of them, the year will go smoother."

Randy Tamayo stood outside the door of a first-grade classroom at Kapalama Elementary School watching his son, Christopher, find his desk inside.

"The first year, he was kind of scared, but this year he just went in. He's gotten used to this school," he said.

Tamayo, who also has a daughter who started third-grade at Kapalama, said the end of summer vacation came just in time for Christopher.

"I think he was getting bored at home," he said, adding, "and I think it's a relief for my wife. She gets a break."

Reach Loren Moreno at lmoreno@honoluluadvertiser.com.