Classes began Wednesday for most students across the Salem-Keizer School District.
Elementary schoolers filed off buses and out of parents’ cars, some running toward the front doors while others hesitated or needed extra hugs before going in.
Proud parents took photos of students. Some were dressed in freshly-ironed dresses or pants, while others sported Pokemon sweatshirts or pajamas.
At district middle and high schools, sixth and ninth graders began class Tuesday, while their older peers joined them Wednesday.
Khart Michiuo, 6, and sister Kettralyn wait outside Wright Elementary on the first day of school, Wednesday, Sept. 4, 2024. (Rachel Alexander/Salem Reporter)Principal Amy Coyle greets students getting off the bus on the first day of school at Wright Elementary on Wednesday, Sept. 4, 2024. (Rachel Alexander/Salem Reporter)Cheyenne Ruiz escorts her son Everette Otstot for his first day of second grade at Wright Elementary on Wednesday, Sept. 4, 2024. His younger brothers, Finn, who’s starting kindergarten later this month, and Crosby, accompanied him. (Rachel Alexander/Salem Reporter)Jesse Stutter, a foundational skills specialist at Wright Elementary, helps a student find his classroom on the first day of school, Wednesday, Sept. 4, 2024. (Rachel Alexander/Salem Reporter)Speech language pathologist Rachael Tencza talks with a student who was shy about going to class on the first day of school at Wright Elementary on Wednesday, Sept. 4, 2024. (Rachel Alexander/Salem Reporter)A student enters Wright Elementary for the first day of class on Wednesday, Sept. 4, 2024. (Rachel Alexander/Salem Reporter)A third grade class waits in line to enter the school library on the first day of school at Wright Elementary on Wednesday, Sept. 4, 2024. (Rachel Alexander/Salem Reporter)Speech language pathologist Rachael Tencza catches up with students about their summer on the first day of school at Wright Elementary on Wednesday, Sept. 4, 2024. (Rachel Alexander/Salem Reporter)Teacher Megan Butler goes over her classroom’s daily schedule with third and fourth grade students on the first day of class at Wright Elementary on Wednesday, Sept. 4, 2024. (Rachel Alexander/Salem Reporter)Third and fourth grade students in Megan Butler’s class at Wright Elementary listen as their teacher goes over the daily schedule on the first day of school, Wednesday, Sept. 4, 2024. (Rachel Alexander/Salem Reporter)Renee Trollinger, a fifth grade student at Wright Elementary, works on a quiz about her teacher on the first day of school, Sept. 4, 2024. (Rachel Alexander/Salem Reporter)Students in Desiree Richardson’s fifth-grade class at Wright Elementary work on a quiz about their teacher on the first day of school, Sept. 4, 2024. (Rachel Alexander/Salem Reporter)Backpacks hang in a fifth-grade classroom at Wright Elementary on the first day of school, Sept. 4, 2024. (Rachel Alexander/Salem Reporter)Principal Amy Coyle shows the fully-stocked food pantry at Wright Elementary ready for the new school year on Wednesday, Sept. 4, 2024. The pantry was started two years ago by the school’s community outreach coordinator, a position Wright no longer has. (Rachel Alexander/Salem Reporter)Friends greet each other while waiting for class to begin on the first day of school at Lee Elementary, Sept. 4, 2024. (Rachel Alexander/Salem Reporter)Maria Gonzalez takes a photo of her daughter, Irina Martinez, on the first day of first grade at Lee Elementary, Sept. 4, 2024. (Rachel Alexander/Salem Reporter)Friends greet one another after being dropped off on the first day of school at Lee Elementary, Sept. 4, 2024. (Rachel Alexander/Salem Reporter)Winter Sawyer fills up her water bottle on the first day of second grade at Lee Elementary as friend Kehlani Munoz Baltazar looks on. (Rachel Alexander/Salem Reporter)Students in Daniel Pérez-Aguilar’s dual language first grade class find their desks on the first day of school at Lee Elementary, Sept. 4, 2024. (Rachel Alexander/Salem Reporter)Josiah Gomez Gutierrez hangs up her backpack on the first day of first grade at Lee Elementary, Sept. 4, 2024. (Rachel Alexander/Salem Reporter)First grade teacher Daniel Pérez-Aguilar’s helps students find a spot to sit on the class rug on the first day of school at Lee Elementary, Sept. 4, 2024. (Rachel Alexander/Salem Reporter)
Contact reporter Rachel Alexander: [email protected] or 503-575-1241.
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Rachel Alexander is Salem Reporter’s managing editor. She joined Salem Reporter when it was founded in 2018 and covers city news, education, nonprofits and a little bit of everything else. She’s been a journalist in Oregon and Washington for a decade. Outside of work, she’s a skater and board member with Salem’s Cherry City Roller Derby and can often be found with her nose buried in a book.
