Students at overseas Defense Department schools clamored into courtyards and hallways Monday for their first day back to class, while recent arrivals and families with preschoolers prepared to take advantage of new programs.

Among the biggest changes this year is the start of universal pre-kindergarten in most Department of Defense Education Activity schools. The free program, available for children who turn 4 on or before Sept. 1, kicks off Sept. 4.

Pre-K will be available at 80 schools, “with more in development,” said Beth Schiavino-Narvaez, DODEA’s new director.

“We are so excited to welcome our youngest students,” she said in a back-to-school video message posted to the DODEA website.

In Europe, all but five of 34 primary schools will have pre-K. Wiesbaden, Aukamm, Ansbach, Ramstein and Kleine Brogel elementary schools don’t yet have the space for it, school officials said.

In the Pacific, prekindergarten will be available at all elementary schools, DODEA-Pacific spokeswoman Miranda Ferguson said by phone Thursday.

The curriculum emphasizes both academic and “soft skills” such as sharing or building friendship, and includes lunch served family-style in classrooms.

“It’s something [families] would have access to in many areas stateside, so we’re really excited to be able to offer this program to our military-connected families,” she said.

Air Force spouse Erica Riley at Yokota Air Base in western Tokyo thinks the program will help her daughter Gwendolyn, 4, prepare for kindergarten.

It also gives Riley time for job hunting and college classes, time she didn’t always have when her sons Wyatt, 13, and Weston, 12, were younger and attending a half-day program.

“I wish they had the full day because they loved school so much and having to leave my job and bring them to work with me became a lot,” she said.

DODEA expects to welcome nearly 65,000 students across 160 schools worldwide, Schiavino-Narvaez said.

The Bahrain School, as it does every year, opened its classrooms Sunday, in line with the work week in the island kingdom.

There were some new faces in the crowd of more than 500 at the school, which houses prekindergarten to 12^th grade on the same campus.

Alycia Romero, 12, and Alex Rodriguez, 15, just landed in Bahrain on Saturday, said their father, Navy Master Chief Petty Officer Jeffrey Barnes. This will mark Barnes’ fifth overseas tour and second time with students in DODEA.

“I’m excited for them to get started on a new experience.” Barnes said. “I’m also looking forward to them being part of this new culture in Bahrain.”

Some of the smallest incoming students were ready to go, shrugging off desert heat of over 100 degrees Fahrenheit.

“I’m excited about going on the big (shaded) playground,” said Maliyah Gordon-Perkins, 4.

Helping out

In the Asia-Pacific region, volunteer student ambassadors are helping new arrivals acclimate. They’ll introduce them to their host nation’s culture, guide them around their new school and act as lunch buddies.

Tiffany Okamora, 17, a senior at Yokosuka Naval Base’s Kinnick High School in Japan, volunteered because she remembers the challenge of moving to Japan as a younger student.

“I enjoy helping people out, and I know that when I was new, I didn’t like the feeling of being alone and not having the opportunity to make friends,” she said before school Monday.

Changes to DODEA’s special education program also take effect this year. Students with learning disabilities in grades six through 12 will join general education classrooms for certain subjects, including math and English.

At Yokota Middle School, family and faculty members lined up and “clapped in” the students with applause as they entered the building, where they were greeted by the school’s mascot, White Tiger.

“I’m here to show my support and show that the first day of school is important,” said Senior Master Sgt. Dannay Lopez, parent of seventh grader Balente Lopez.

Yokota Middle sixth grader Olivia Standifer said she has high hopes.

“My goal for this school year is to get straight As,” said Standifer, from Fort Walton Beach, Fla.

Another sixth grader, Grace Stevens. said she couldn’t wait to start drama class.

“I want to design costumes for them,” Stevens said.

The crowns of Wiesbaden

Over in Germany, seniors at Wiesbaden High School donned paper crowns in a yearslong tradition to celebrate their “last first day of school” as kings and queens of the hallways. 

Roni Massey, who is starting her fourth year as a Warrior, said arriving at school Monday was a bit surreal. 

“It’s weird ... I never expected this day to come because I feel like I’ve been in high school forever, but it’s great, it feels good,” Massey said. “As much as people hate school, you still enjoy coming to see your friends and do your activities and everything. I’m excited to see certain teachers today (because) they make it feel like you’re at home.”

Registration at the high school is up about 100 students from five years ago at the garrison, where the population has nearly doubled in recent years.

The cloudy skies and light rain at Aviano, Italy, on Monday didn’t dampen the buzz of the new school year.

“This year has a new kind of energy,” said Doug Nothstine, beginning his 25^th year of teaching history at the high school. He credited that to an unusual number of young, new teachers and “a very active student body government that’s already been busy.”

‘Having fun!’

In Okinawa, students took shelter from intermittent showers on a muggy morning as they waited to enter the newest DODEA school on the island, Killin Elementary School at Camp Foster.

Zeze Champannha ran from her parents, Jasmine Champannha and Marine Corps Sgt. Damian Champannha, to meet her new first grade teacher before rejoining them and sharing what she was most looking forward to this year: “Having fun!”

First grade will be more challenging, particularly because of math, Zeze said.

Marine Maj. Greg Snyder waved to his daughter, Jolene Snyder, yelling, “Bye, Peanut!” as she entered the building with her second grade class. 

Demitris McGhee, a new teacher assigned to universal pre-K, arrived on the island Aug. 2 and said he is excited for the program to start.

“What we’ll do is we’ll have different stations,” he said. “They’ll be taught how to use the stations appropriately and then they’ll be able to rotate throughout the stations. So, we have everything from dramatic play, where you have the kitchen, the stove, things like that. We have art, we have sand and water.”

At Camp Humphreys in South Korea, traffic slowed to a crawl Monday as military police cruisers kept watch for speeders near the base’s four K-12 schools.

Humphreys West Elementary School kindergarten teacher Kylie Rapp said she had “a great summer” traveling to Thailand and Vietnam but was “super excited to begin teaching again.”

“I feel like I’m more excited to start school now than I ever was even as a student, and I loved school,” she said.

Madeline Sharples, 5, was waiting for the school to open with her father, Sgt. Zachary Sharples, a 2nd Infantry Division bridge crewmember.

“It’s a little nerve-wracking but I’m just excited for her,” he said of his daughter’s first day at kindergarten.

Stars and Stripes reporters Kelly Agee, David Choi, Luis Garcia, Kent Harris, Keishi Koja, Bradley Latham, Brian McElhiney and Shannon Renfroe contributed to this report.