Providence School Supt. Tom Brady greets students and parents outside the Lima Elementary School yesterday, the first day of school. Brady spent the morning touring six schools in the city.

The Providence Journal / Bill Murphy

PROVIDENCE — Supt. Tom Brady hit the ground running yesterday morning, greeting bus drivers at dawn and dishing up bagels for breakfast at one elementary school.

By lunchtime, the district’s new superintendent had toured four schools, and he visited four more before wrapping up the day at Kennedy Plaza, where RIPTA buses disgorge hundreds of high school students every afternoon.

Brady, who arrived here from Philadelphia six weeks ago, is a natural at the “meet-and-greet.” Where former Supt. Donnie Evans was reticent, Brady is gregarious. Shaking hands, meeting new people and making casual conversation come as naturally to him as they do to a seasoned politician.

At the Fortes/Lima Annex, there were more than a few tearful kindergarten students struggling to get through that painful moment of separation from their mothers. In one classroom, Brady knelt down next to a miserable 5-year-old named Sharon and spoke a few words of encouragement. But it wasn’t until a teacher handed Sharon a big stuffed bear that she began to cheer up.

“We all need a huggy bear sometimes,” Brady said as he left the classroom.

Brady embarked on a “listening and learning” campaign shortly after his arrival in Providence, meeting with 250 teachers during an informal coffee hour, the first of three such meetings. In the weeks that followed, he met with parents and teachers in packed school auditoriums and in parents’ backyards; he toured the neighborhoods with City Council members and met with community groups.

His advance work is beginning to pay off. Yesterday, several teachers shook Brady’s hand and said, “We met at Hope High School,” or, “I heard you speak at one of the parents’ nights.”

Meeting the public sends an important message, Brady said, that “this is a team and we have to work together.”

In every class, Brady thanked teachers for their hard work and told students to have a great year. But he didn’t just stop for teachers. He introduced himself to custodians and kitchen staff, to secretaries and teacher assistants. Everyone got the same square handshake, the same direct gaze.

Brady has his work cut out for him in the goodwill department. A series of missteps during Evans’ three-year tenure — from the closing of a popular West End elementary school to the Dec. 13 snowstorm that stranded students on school buses –– has led to a spirit of distrust among teachers and parents.

Teachers, meanwhile, are frustrated by three years of budget cuts and the failure to secure a new contract. But Brady and Providence Teachers Union president Steve Smith have both signaled that the long-stalled negotiations are progressing and a resolution may be in sight.

Yesterday, Brady expressed curiosity about every aspect of the school day, from the bus monitors who keep the children safe to the people who prepare the school lunches. At Fortes Elementary School, Brady popped into the cafeteria where masses of macaroni-and-cheese were being prepared for the district schools.

In every classroom, Brady asked which textbook the teachers were using and how they liked it. At Mount Pleasant High School, he asked to see the teacher’s lesson plan. When she said that the plan was at home, Brady asked her to e-mail it to him. All this was done with a smile and the teacher didn’t seem to mind.

At Nathanael Greene Middle School, Principal Nicole Thomas introduced Brady to a young boy in a wheelchair named Wayne, whose medical condition is so complex that he needs a full-time nursing assistant.

At a recent public meeting, the child’s mother begged Brady not to separate her son from the nurse who had cared for him for several years. The nursing assistant made the same appeal.

“I figured if they both wanted the same thing, it had to be good,” Brady said. “We made it happen.”

In a district known for its revolving door of superintendents, Mayor David N. Cicilline has said that strong, consistent leadership must be the basis for academic achievement.

When Cicilline announced Brady’s appointment in March, the mayor made it clear that he was looking for an experienced manager, not an academic leader. In an interview this winter, Brady addressed his apparent lack of academic experience by saying that Providence needs someone who can manage complex systems, someone who can define the district’s mission and then tap the right people to get the job done.

Brady certainly has had experience running large systems. As commander of Fort Belvoir, Va., he oversaw a $770-million budget and more than 20,000 residents. As the interim education chief of Philadelphia, he was responsible for running the eighth-largest school district in the country, and as the chief operating officer of the District of Columbia public schools, he managed a $1-billion budget.

According to state Education Commissioner Peter McWalters, the district needs a superintendent who can deliver the books on time, settle the teachers’ contract and find savings in the midst of a budget crisis.

Brady wrapped up his first day at Kennedy Plaza, where 800 high school students descend every afternoon after school gets out. Brady met with Police Chief Dean M. Esserman and Sgt. George Smith, who oversees the police detail at the plaza, which is now staffed by 8 to 10 patrolmen.

Yesterday, the RIPTA bus depot was calm. Three years ago, however, a brawl involving nearly 100 students broke out at the plaza and traveled up College Hill. Although some students were armed with bricks and bottles, no one was seriously hurt. The melee and several subsequent fights led the police to beef up their presence at the plaza.

“You can see the tension build some afternoons,” Smith told Brady as they walked around the plaza. “We’ve made hundreds of arrests. We average about five a week.”

Brady, who never stopped for lunch, ended the day on the same upbeat note with which he began it.

He said the first day of school was “absolutely smooth” and that it exceeded his expectations.

“I saw schools that were inviting and welcoming to parents,” he said. “The buildings looked good, the teachers were engaged and the children ready to learn.”

lborg@projo.com