Photos by Lisa Aciukewicz
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Students on bus 4 arrive with masks on and ready to learn on the first day of school, Sept. 8, at Hildreth Elementary School. Seating on the bus is staggered with only siblings allowed to sit together. Windows are down to ensure plenty of fresh air circulating.
Second grader Eloise Beauchemin leads a group of her fellow students into class.
Fifth graders walk single-file, keeping a safe space between each other as they head out of the building for a mask break.
Laura Cote poses with her mat after telling her teacher she lost four teeth over the past few weeks.
The students in Mrs. Lazaro’s classroom are all stuffed! Because she is teaching a remote-only class, she populated her room with socially distanced stuffed animals.
Luci Prestia Gulati takes off her mask and prepares to dig into her snack during the first of two daily mask breaks. Mask breaks are held outside under a tent and offer students a respite from the many new safety protocols.
Third grader Ayla Dandridge chooses a carpet mat to put by her desk—yet another way teachers are helping students make their desk pods more comfortable. The mat offers another place to sit when not in a desk chair.
Even a mask can’t hide the smile of first-grader Arya Nadella on her first day in Mrs. Chapman’s classroom.
Construction, with its related delays, continues on the new elementary school next door.
