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The Tense and Joyous Start to the 2021 School Year, in Photos

School Climate & Safety Photos

The Tense and Joyous Start to the 2021 School Year, in Photos

By Jaclyn Borowski & Stacey Decker 鈥� August 19, 2021 1 min read

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Across the country, students are headed back to school. And across the country, the Delta variant is causing spikes in COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations, particularly in places with low vaccination rates.

U.S. schools have been operating in a pandemic for nearly a year and a half, yet the tension between wanting to provide in-person learning and keep school communities safe seems to be at an all-time high. Debates over COVID precautions are raging, too. And all of it has educators and school leaders fatigued.

Still, the bell sounds. The school doors open. And, kids (some vaccinated, some masked, and some not) flood in. Even the anxiety and uncertainty of today can鈥檛 overtake the nerves and excitement that typically characterize the first days of schools.

What does this mix of emotions look like? Take a look at our photo gallery to get a sense of how back-to-school is going.

Shannon, Miss., Code Enforcement Officer Jeremandy Jackson gives a student a high five as parents, city officials, teachers and others welcome students back for the first day of school at Shannon Elementary School Thursday, Aug. 5, 2021. — Shannon, Miss., code-enforcement officer Jeremandy Jackson gives a student a high-five as parents, city officials, teachers, and others welcome students back for the first day of school at Shannon Elementary School on Aug. 5.
Thomas Wells/The Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal via AP

69传媒 wait for their teacher on the first day of school at the Normont Early Education Center in Harbor City, Calif., on Monday, Aug. 16, 2021. — 69传媒 wait for their teacher on the first day of school at the Normont Early Education Center in Harbor City, Calif., on Aug. 16. California, as well as 14 other states and the District of Columbia, require students and adults to wear masks in school.
Brittany Murray/The Orange County Register via AP

Joann Marcus of Fort Lauderdale, left, cheers as she listens to the Broward School Board's emergency meeting, Wednesday, July 28, 2021, in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. A small but vocal group spoke vehemently against masks, saying their personal rights were being eroded and their children were suffering socially. — Joann Marcus of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., left, cheers as she listens to the Broward County school board's emergency meeting on July 28, in Fort Lauderdale. Florida, and seven other states, have prohibited school districts from imposing mask requirements.
Marta Lavandier/AP

Swartz Creek resident Amy Rouleau holds up a sign that labels wearing masks as child abuse as hundreds of Genesee County residents protest against a mandatory mask mandate in schools on Wednesday, Aug. 18, 2021, outside of the Genesee County Administration Building in Flint, Mich.. The Genesee County Health Department instituted a mask mandate for K-6 students school last week. — Swartz Creek resident Amy Rouleau holds up a sign that labels wearing masks as child abuse during a protest against a mandatory mask mandate in schools on Aug. 18 outside the Genesee County Administration Building in Flint, Mich.
Jake May/The Flint Journal via AP

Protesters against a COVID-19 mandate gesture as they are escorted out of the Clark County School Board meeting at the Clark County Government Center, on Thursday, Aug. 12, 2021, in Las Vegas. — Protesters against a COVID-19 mask mandate gesture as they are escorted out of a Clark County school board meeting at the government center on Aug. 12 in Las Vegas. In Nevada, masks are required to be worn in schools.
Bizuayehu Tesfaye/Las Vegas Review-Journal via AP

Tulsa resident Holly Sweet, who supports wearing masks, walks into the The Charles C. Mason Education Service Center before a TPS school board meeting in Tulsa on Wednesday, Aug. 11, 2021. Visitors to the meeting were not allowed to carry signs into the meeting room. — Resident Holly Sweet, who supports wearing masks, walks into the Charles C. Mason Education Service Center in Tulsa, Okla., before a school board meeting on Aug. 11.
John Clanton/Tulsa World via AP

Parent Rosa Vargas and her son, 9th grade student Victor Loredo, 14, walk home after getting tested at a Los Angeles Unified School District COVID-19 testing and vaccination site in East Los Angeles on April 15, 2021. California will become the first state in the nation to require all teachers and school staff to get vaccinated or undergo weekly COVID-19 testing. The statewide vaccine mandate for K-12 educators comes as schools return from summer break amid growing concerns of the highly contagious delta variant. Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom announced the new policy Wednesday, Aug. 11, 2021 as he visited a San Francisco Bay Area school that has already reopened after summer break. — Rosa Vargas and her son, 9th grader Victor Loredo, walk home after getting tested at a Los Angeles Unified school district COVID-19 testing and vaccination site on April 15. California was the first state in the nation to require all teachers and school staff to get vaccinated or undergo weekly COVID-19 testing.
Damian Dovarganes/AP

081721 LAUSD COVID Testing TNS BS — Raizah Touch swabs her son Skyzell Touch, 6, for a coronavirus test at Northridge Middle School in Los Angeles on Aug. 11. The L.A. school district is embarking on a colossal effort to screen every single student, teacher, and staff member鈥攎ore than half a million people鈥攆or COVID-19 once a week.
Genaro Molina/Los Angeles Times via TNS

RN Dianne Moellering, left, gives Jose Luis Villanueva Hernandez his first dose of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine as his daughter Natalie, 2, watches during a vaccination clinic at Ritenour High School on Wednesday, Aug. 11, 2021, in St. Louis County, Mo. "I didn't feel nothing" said Hernandez. The vaccinations were available to anyone in the community. — Registered nurse Dianne Moellering, left, gives Jose Luis Villanueva Hernandez his first dose of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine as his daughter Natalie, 2, watches during a vaccination clinic at Ritenour High School on Aug. 11 in St. Louis County, Mo. "I didn't feel nothing," said Hernandez.
David Carson/St. Louis Post-Dispatch via AP

Davis Eidahl, a science teacher at Pekin High School in Packwood, Iowa, says he doesn't believe in getting the COVID-19 vaccine because there hasn鈥檛 been enough evidence that they are effective. But he takes and offers all social distancing methods and doesn鈥檛 have a problem with people wearing masks. — Davis Eidahl, a science teacher at Pekin High School in Packwood, Iowa, says he has no plans to get the COVID-19 vaccine, despite public-health guidance. So far, nearly 90 percent of teachers across the country have been vaccinated, according to a recent EdWeek Research Center survey.
Rachel Mummey for Education Week

Principal Andrea Harper hugs a student as Harper and Superintendent Kent P. Scribner greet students on the first day of school Monday, Aug. 16, 2021, at T.A. Sims Elementary School in Fort Worth, Texas. — Principal Andrea Harper hugs a student as she and Superintendent Kent P. Scribner greet students on Aug. 16, the first day of classes at T.A. Sims Elementary School in Fort Worth, Texas. Gov. Greg Abbott has issued an executive order preventing mask mandates across the state.
Yffy Yossifor/Star-Telegram via AP

Russell Rakestraw II hugs his son, fourth grader Russell Rakestraw III, in front of his elementary school while dropping off on the first day of classes in Richardson, Texas, Tuesday, Aug. 17, 2021. Despite Texas Gov Greg Abbott's executive order banning mask mandates by local officials, the Richardson Independent School District and many others across the state are requiring masks for students. — Russell Rakestraw II hugs his son, Russell Rakestraw III, in front of the 4th grader鈥檚 elementary school on the first day of classes in Richardson Texas, on Aug. 17. Despite Gov. Greg Abbott's executive order banning mask mandates, the Richardson Independent district and many others across the state are requiring masks for students.
LM Otero/AP

Orchard Knob Middle School Assistant Principal Michael Calloway squirts sanitizer onto students hands as they arrive for the first day of school at Orchard Knob Middle School, in Chattanooga, Tenn., on Thursday, Aug. 12, 2021. — Orchard Knob Middle School Assistant Principal Michael Calloway squirts sanitizer onto students鈥� hands as they arrive for the first day of school at Orchard Knob Middle School in Chattanooga, Tenn., on Aug. 12.
Robin Rudd/Chattanooga Times Free Press via AP

Student ambassadors line up for the ribbon cutting ceremony and first day of school at the new Hannah Marie Brown Elementary School in Henderson, Nev., Monday, Aug. 9, 2021. Doors opened Monday at schools in and around Las Vegas, where masks were required for the more than 300,000 students and about 18,000 teachers returning to in-person classes at the fifth-largest district in the nation. — Student ambassadors line up for a ribbon-cutting ceremony and the first day of school at the new Hannah Marie Brown Elementary in Henderson, Nev., on Aug. 9. At schools in and around Las Vegas, masks were required.
Yasmina Chavez/Las Vegas Sun via AP

Victoria Dickens wears a mask and face shield as she waits for her class assignment at Summit Elementary School in Summit, Miss., on Thursday, Aug. 5, 2021, during the first day of the 2021-22 school year for students in the McComb School District. The school district is requiring face masks on buses and campuses this school year. — Victoria Dickens wears a mask and face shield as she waits for her class assignment at Summit Elementary School in Summit, Miss., on Aug. 5, during the first day of the 2021-22 school year.
Matt Williamson/The Enterprise-Journal via AP

Masked students wait to go their classrooms on the first day of school at Enrique S. Camarena Elementary School Wednesday, July 21, 2021, in Chula Vista, Calif. The school is among the first in the state to start the 2021-22 school year with full-day, in-person learning. — Masked students wait to go to their classrooms on the first day of school at Enrique S. Camarena Elementary School on July 21 in Chula Vista, Calif. The school was among the first in the state to start the 2021-22 school year with full-day, in-person learning.
Denis Poroy/AP

69传媒 make their way to class for the first day of school at Tustin Ranch Elementary School in Tustin, Calif., on Thursday, Aug. 12, 2021. — 69传媒 make their way to class for the first day of school at Tustin Ranch Elementary School in Tustin, Calif., on Aug. 12.
Paul Bersebach/The Orange County Register via AP

Jaclyn Borowski

Director of Photography & Videography, Education Week

Jaclyn Borowski is the director of photography and videography for Education Week.

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Stacey Decker

Deputy Managing Editor for Digital, Education Week

Stacey Decker was the deputy managing editor for digital at Education Week.

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