Kids in the Buffalo Public Schools District started classes Friday morning with plenty of learning ahead of them.

At Futures Academy in the Fruit Belt, teachers decorated the door with balloons and streamers to get kids excited for the first day.

But that wasn’t the only exciting thing about the day.

Dr. Kriner Cash, the school district’s superintendent, was joined by Assembly Majority Leader Crystal Peoples-Stokes to announce an additional $500,000 in financial aid for Buffalo schools.

Cash said the funding will be put toward expanding art programs and helping special needs programs.

He also discussed graduation rates, saying raising those rates is a big goal of this new school year.

“It’s a complex issue, it has always been,” Cash said . “It’s different from state to state. We’ve had a challenge making sure that we account for all of those in the numerators over the years but we are closing that gap.”

Graduation rates in the district climbed to a 16 year high in 2018 with 65 percent finishing in 4 years, according to the district. 

Cash added that graduation rates for their most in demand schools are above the state average, with seven of those schools in the high 80s and 90s.

Either way, students and teachers are excited to be back in school.

“Very excited, very excited," said Serena Restivo, the principal of Futures Academy. "A lot of preparation goes into starting the school year."

Futures Academy has also had quite a bit of success lately, too. 

Their students doubled in performance on the state testing last year and they hope to keep that momentum going this year.

Restivo made sure of that by setting a positive tone on the first day of school with a red carpet for kids to walk on as they entered the building.

“There is nothing more important than a child feeling loved and welcomed and if you don’t have that to begin with, a lot of the other nuisances of education such as academics, social and emotional aspects, they can’t fall into place,” Restivo said. 

Parents interested in registering their child at Futures Academy must go to Central Registration at School 12 on Ash Street.