The sun has begun its slow retreat, the cicadas are turning down their concerts, and the halls are filled with the smell of erasers and sharpened pencils. Yes, summer break is over, and with it, the annual migration of backpacks, lunchboxes, and sleep-deprived students has begun. All the schools in the Tri-Town are back in session.
The start of the 2025-26 school year will be a bittersweet affair for most. Students mourn the loss of sleeping in, ice cream melting down their hands onto the sidewalk, and afternoons spent staring into the void of social media. Parents, meanwhile, have been spotted giving each other high fives, liberated at last.
Local teachers, the true heroes of our story, have emerged from their summer hibernations armed with lesson plans (ever changing), teacher-related gifts they got from their friends and family who didn’t know what else to get them, and a thousand-yard stare that can silence a classroom. Coffee will soon be flying off the shelves.
But while the season’s shift comes with groans, there’s reason for optimism. A new year means new beginnings: a fresh shot at learning something new, trying a new sport or club, landing a role in the school play, or finally solving that locker combination on the first try (I never used mine – stuffed-backpack kid here). For parents, it means a chance to momentarily reclaim some silence only to miss the noise once it’s gone. For teachers, another opportunity to inspire curiosity, whether anyone remembers their homework may be an ask too far.
The leaves will start to turn soon, and the pumpkin-spice onslaught will begin anew. Remember, endings are really beginnings in disguise. Summer may be fading, the Oxcart is closed, but the school year holds its own kind of promise. A chance for growth, achievement, and maybe, just maybe, a snow day or two down the line.
By Sam Bishop