PARKER, Colo. -- A mountain lion was spotted early Thursday morning in the area of Pioneer Elementary School in Parker, prompting two schools to cancel morning recess, but the animal could not be found, the Douglas County Schools said.

Parker police officers, security officers for Douglas County Schools, and officers with the Division of Wildlife checked the areas near the school and the surrounding bike paths but were unable to track the big cat.

To ensure the safety of the students and staff, school officials decided to secure the perimeter around two schools -- Pioneer Elementary and Frontier Valley Elementary, which is about 3 miles away -- and even canceled morning recess.

By Thursday afternoon, both schools were back on normal schedules.

"We monitored the situation and once we determined that there was no danger or the animal may have left the area, we told them to resume normal operation," said Dan Clemente with Douglas County Schools security.

"I was actually kind of excited. It just seemed kind of cool that there was a mountain lion in the area," said fourth-grader Matthew Reiter.

However, teachers kept a close eye on the students as a precaution and restricted their play to areas that are close to the school. As an added precaution, a patrol officer was also on hand at the school when classes were dismissed. A letter was also sent home to Pioneer Elementary students to tell parents what had happened.

Officials received a call at about 7:40 a.m. from a person who said he or she saw a mountain lion near a wooded greenbelt section about 100 yards from the school. This call follows several other reports on Wednesday about a mountain lion in the area.

Wildlife officers are walking throughout the area and putting up temporary signs on nearby bike paths warning people about the mountain lion sightings.