It’s back-to-school season, and KCPS is starting in style.

When students came to class at Kansas City Public Schools (KCPS) this morning, they had quite the greeting outside that included the Chiefs drumline, cheerleaders and the Chiefs’s mascot K.C. Wolf.

“The first day of school is very important to everyone. I can think back to first grade on my first day going to school. So I think about these kids, and I’m like ‘wow, if we make this a welcoming place we can start off with momentum that can carry us all the way through the year,'” said Central High School Principal Anthony Madry.

City Year, a group of mentors that will be helping out during the school year, is also joining the festivities at Central High School today. City Year is comprised of AmeriCorps volunteers who work full-time at KCPS. They help students get ready for the workforce.

“It’s on a Near-Peer model, meaning that these young people are close in age to the students that they’re serving. So that means they’re going to have a tighter relationships with the students than most of the adults,” said Madry.

Madry says the people who make up City Year will have a better understanding of what’s going on in these high schoolers’ lives than their teachers. AmeriCorps will place 66 City Year volunteers across seven schools at KCPS.