School doesn’t start for another month, but that didn’t stop Decas Elementary School Principal Donna Noonan from reading a book about starting kindergarten to excited youngsters at the Wareham Free Library.

Noonan was Thursday’s guest reader at the Library’s twice weekly "Lunch With A Hero," a summer program that brings in a guest reader from the town to meet with children. Lunch With A Hero takes place Mondays at 12 p.m. at the Spinney branch of the library, and Thursdays at 12 p.m. at the main library.

Noonan read a book called "Kindergarten Rocks" to the two girls who stopped by Thursday's session. “Kindergarten Rocks,” by Katie Davis, is about a little boy who goes to kindergarten for the first time. As she read, Noonan peppered the story with questions to the girls about the book, as well as anecdotes from her own childhood, including the time her principal came to her house.

“She went out into my backyard, and she was petting my rabbit with me. I remember that still,” Noonan said.

Though there were only a couple children at the library’s lunchtime event, Noonan still thought it was important that families with kindergarten-age children come out to any event that allows them to connect with her.

“To have a familiar face … to have that initial impression – you want that to be a positive one,” Noonan said. “It’s kind of transitioning. It breaks it down into pieces, something that’s as big a change as going into kindergarten.”

Parent Cindy Baronas said she was glad she got to meet Noonan at the storytime.

"She's very friendly," Baronas said. "I hear great things about her. I just wanted to put a face to the name, and get to see who she is."

Noonan said only 183 children of the projected 220 have been signed up so far for the incoming kindergarten class, making the Aug. 1 deadline she set to place children in classes a tight one. She has been trying since May to get more children signed up, but she has only seen 33 more students added to the school’s roster.

“Initially, in the census reporting … we expected about 220,” Noonan said. “I would be very surprised, if we take that kind of bump. … I would speculate we would probably see another 15 to 20 that might come in between now and then, but the sooner we know about them the better.”

Noonan said it is still not too late to register children for kindergarten, but families should do this as soon as possible.

“We’re actually putting kindergarteners into classrooms in order to be ready the first week in August,” Noonan said. “Anyone that comes in after that, we make adjustments, but we’re getting close to the wire here.”

The next Lunch With A Hero will feature Nora Bicki, a member of the Don’t Trash Wareham Committee, at the Spinney branch on Monday, July 27 at 12 p.m. For more information, call the Wareham Free Library at 508-295-2343. Visit the library’s online calendar for a list of upcoming events.