Ramona awakens on her first day of school with so much excitement that she hastily makes up her bed by just pulling the covers over her pillows and stuffed animals. She feels brave and grown up as she walks to school, knowing she will now be in the big building instead of the kindergarten wing. Ramona watches the new kindergarteners arriving at school and thinks they look like babies. She waves at her kindergarten teacher Miss Binney, whom Ramona loved because she called her Ramona Q: “Miss Binney understood that Ramona used her last initial because she wanted to be different […]” (61). As she enters the bustling first-grade hall, Ramona’s confidence wavers as she feels small among all the other kids.

She finds her class in Room One and sees many classmates from the previous year, including Susan with the ringlet curls. The curls are still springy, but Ramona resists the urge to pull them like she did last year. The teacher, Mrs. Griggs, introduces herself and instructs the students to find their desks labeled with their names. Ramona finds hers and quickly adds her signature Q with ears, whiskers, and a tail. Mrs. Griggs explains that she expects the students to act more mature and work harder now that they are in first grade.