Holding her backpack, with both parents in tow, Natalie Drizos arrived at the front gate of Mountain Meadows School in Moorpark to check in Wednesday on her first day as a fourth-grader.

Natalie, who attended the school last year, was allowed to continue her education at Mountain Meadows, which until this year was one of the last elementary schools in the Moorpark Unified School District to not offer all grades. This year, the school added fourth- and fifth-grade classes — part of a plan to transform all district elementary schools into K-5 campuses as recommended by the Vision 2010 Committee of parents, teachers and administrators.

Jodie Drizos, Natalie's mother, said she initially had mixed feelings about the plan because it meant some of her daughter's old classmates ended up going to different schools. Despite the transition, her daughter was "sad but happy" to return to Mountain Meadows after summer vacation.

Welcoming the new fourth- and fifth-graders on Wednesday was Chris Kelley, the school's new principal. "We have a connection because it's their first day here and my first day here," Kelley said.

Some of the new students at Mountain Meadows will be attending classes in a new, Measure R-funded building on campus, which replaced some portable classrooms.

New classroom facilities also awaited students at Arroyo West School, which welcomed its first kindergarten class Wednesday, also based on the Vision 2010 recommendation.

Walnut Canyon Principal Linda Bowe led a morning meeting to help parents with the transition of sending their children to kindergarten for the first time.

Parents Danielle and Tim Waters attended the meeting with their 2-year-old daughter, Madeleine, whose brother, Matthew, began his first day of kindergarten. Matthew "was beyond ecstatic for his first day of school, so it made it easier for us," said Danielle Waters.

Bowe said some new kindergartners cried as they came to school for the first time, but once their parents left, they were fine.

"Usually after a half-hour, they are engaged in other activities and they are OK," said Bowe. "The kids usually have a great day, and I often find the parents are the ones stressed out."

Some Moorpark High School students Wednesday also faced a transition — from taking the bus to finding a ride to school. Parents were notified last spring that the district was cutting transportation for about 250 older students to retain transportation funding for younger children and to keep from cutting more deeply into instructional programs.

District Superintendent Ellen Smith said the first day's traffic went smoothly, with the help of the Moorpark Police Department. Smith said the first few days of school are always busy traffic-wise at Moorpark High, and she urged parents to drop off students at nearby Glenwood and Mountain Meadows Park.

"That will help reduce congestion immediately adjacent to Moorpark High School and improve safety conditions for everyone," Smith said.