The first day of preschool usually involves toddlers hanging onto mom or dad's pant legs, upset about parting with their families and spending time away from home and familiar surroundings.

But one mom, Beth Groznik, was the person feeling separation anxiety last week as she dropped off her 4-year-old quadruplets for the start of preschool at St. Malachy School in Kennedy.

"I was the one crying," Mrs. Groznik said. "This is a harder adjustment for me than for them."

The Robinson mom said she'd been with her children 24/7 since giving birth to two girls, Malena and Isabella, and two boys, Zachary and Jacob, during a three-minute span on Feb. 24, 2004.

"They're still such miracles for me because we tried so hard to have them," she said.

Mom lost sleep the night before preschool began, wondering how she was going to get her four toddlers out the door in the morning and into class by 8:45. But she did it -- after a mad rush of helping them finish breakfast, brush their teeth and don their matching outfits.

On the second day of preschool, the girls wore matching black-and-white dresses and the boys were dressed in black polo shirts and plaid shorts.

Despite the coordinated clothing, teacher Kristin Crawford had no trouble telling the Groznik children apart. Malena and Jacob have brown hair and brown eyes like their mother, while Isabella and Zachary have blond hair and blue eyes like their father.

Mrs. Crawford said the other 22 pupils did not seem to realize the Grozniks were siblings, let alone quadruplets.

"They're busy here trying to make friends and play, but they may realize it at birthday time," she said.

On their birthdays, children in Mrs. Crawford's class wear crowns, share snacks and lead the class in daily practices such as reading the calendar.

The teacher -- who has had twins in previous classes but never quadruplets -- made a point to seat the siblings separately during snack time so they could make new chums.

And the Groznik children mingled with their classmates during play time, which is what their mom had hoped.

Mrs. Groznik said she'd persisted in securing grant money to help send her kids to St. Malachy's preschool program because she wanted them to gain their own identities apart from their siblings and spend time around other children.

"There aren't a lot of parents who say, 'Hey, bring your kids over' because there's four," she said.

Normally, the Groznik children spend time with each other and their family, including mom, dad, Andy, and their grandparents, who live nearby.

Zachary, being so close with his brother and sisters, easily pointed out his siblings' favorite animals as he arranged photo magnets on a board during preschool play time.

"Jacob likes this big elephant," he said. "Bella likes pink bunnies."

Malena joined her brother at the magnet board. "I like the donkey, pig, cow, turtle," she said.

After the first day of school, Mrs. Groznik said, the children happily told her stories about the friends they had made and recited songs they had learned. "They were excited for school but glad to see mom, too."