WORCESTER, Mass. - It's back to the books for students in Worcester Public Schools as Monday marked the beginning of the new school year.

What You Need To Know

  • Monday was the first day of school for students in Worcester Publich Schools

  • The district is operating its own school buses this year and has a new app to help family track the buses

  • It was a smooth start to the year, with no major issues with buses picking up students in the morning

Sisters Cora and Everleigh were jumping for joy on their walk to Nelson Place Elementary School Monday morning. The two said they've been waiting all summer to move up a grade and be back in class. 

Over at the bus stop, the same excitement is being felt by parents. The district is running its own transportation this year. To help smooth the transition, they are offering the My Stop app. It's the first time families will be able to track buses in real time.

"They will be able to track it as it's coming to the stop," said Michael Freeman, assistant director for the Worcester Public Schools. "It will give them their planned time and the estimated time. So, now they can wake up look at the bus, see where it is and know if it's on time or running late and be able to make it the bus on time."

Michelle Sands has a child in middle school and high school. She downloaded the app to check the arrival time, but said she didn't need to track the bus since they typically don't have any trouble at their stop. 

"I've had no problems, as you can see their bus is on time," Sands said. "So, it's going good. Things are going great."