With school just around the corner, Yonkers Public Schools' first time rider program is giving kids and parents the opportunity to get a jump start at preparing their kids to get on the bus. 

Experts say that it can be nerve-wracking for kids to get on the big yellow bus for the first time.

But young riders and their parents had the opportunity to get acclimated ahead of the school year at elementary schools in the Yonkers Public School district today.

At the Pearls Hawthorne School, students learned safety tips like how to properly get on the bus, buckle their seatbelts and know what to do in case of an emergency evacuation.  “I learned about how the bus works and how the driver stops when somebody is coming,” said one little rider.

The experience may actually have been more for the parents who have anxiety about their kids leaving for the first time. “It’s my baby,” said one mother tearfully. “Watching him go on the bus by himself, and on top that crying, it’s emotional. But it’s good. I feel so proud.”