Sarah Hanson didn't seem to mind being back in the classroom while her peers on traditional schedules still have a month more of summer vacation.

"I get to be with my friends," the second-grader said as she happily delivered her class's attendance list.

This week marked the start of the school year for year-round schools in Jordan, Davis, Granite and other Utah districts. Six year-round schools in the Salt Lake district start Aug. 1.

Eight Davis district year-round schools - a total of 7,508 students - started their school year Monday, took Pioneer Day off, then returned to classes Wednesday.

In the Granite district, 14 schools, or about 15,000 students, started classes Wednesday.

And Midas Creek, at 11800 S. 4450 West, is one of 30 year-round schools in Jordan, the state's largest school district, that began classes Wednesday for roughly 18,000 students.

Midas Creek is the only new year-round school in Jordan. Principal Kevin Pullan said the building has literally transformed itself in the past two weeks as teachers and staff worked to prepare for Wednesday, which went off without a hitch.

"I had a lot of parents waiting for this school to start," Pullan said. "The community has been waiting for this."

Sporting new back-to-school clothes and shiny character backpacks, children came by way of bus, bikes, cars and their own two feet.

"They're ready to be back in school," said Vicki Johnson, a mother of third- and first-grade students attending Midas. "Plus they'll get to be inside where there is air-conditioning."

Jolyn Butterfield, also a parent of Midas students, said she's happy her children attend year-around school. "It's easier to entertain them for three weeks than three months," she said. "And they don't get burned out [by school]."

Year-round schools were conceived as a way to accommodate more students and make better use of school space.

Schools on the schedule place students on one of four tracks that rotate in and out of session throughout the school year. Instead of having three months off in the summer, students have shorter vacations at different times during the year.

Although he had a little trouble finding his way around the expansive one-story building, Chance Peterson, a sixth-grader at Midas, said it was cool to be back. "We have to come back so we don't forget more," he said.

Students on traditional schedules in the Jordan district return to school Aug. 27. That date marks the start of traditional schedules for the Granite district as well, while Salt Lake's traditional school year starts Aug. 28.

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* ROXANA ORELLANA can be reached at rorellana@sltrib.com or 801-257-8693.