While the first day of school for many districts in the Lehigh Valley has long been at the end of August, traditionally, the Labor Day holiday marked the end of summer and a return to classes for students and teachers.

Listening to the song “See you in September,” as sung by The Happenings, always reminds me of seeing friends after the long summer, back-to-school shopping and new books.

Of course, many of the books - and even pencils and paper - have been replaced by laptops and white boards.

But socializing in person with friends, many not seen for more than two months, has not changed.

Following a year or more of remote and hybrid learning due to the COVID-19 pandemic, students will be riding buses to school, sitting in classrooms with old and soon-to-be new friends and eating lunch in the cafeteria.

Wearing masks is required as of Sept. 7, and students and teachers will go through an initial adjustment period before settling in to in-class instruction and learning.

There will be catching up to do, as many of the students may have lost considerable ground in the academics.

Sports - football, soccer, field hockey, volleyball, cross country, tennis, golf, basketball, wrestling, swimming/diving, baseball, softball, lacrosse and track and field - will continue as parents and students cheer on the teams.

Spring and fall theatrical productions will likely be presented live, not via Zoom.

Prom will be just as magical as it was before alternatives for the event had to be found.

Graduation in spring 2022 will be a time of great celebration, whether inside an auditorium or other venue or outside in a stadium.

No one knows what the future will bring ... what the “new normal’ will be for schools, as far as COVID-19 is concerned, but one thing is certain: The virus did not kill creativity. If anything, it inspired imagination and inventiveness in students, teachers and parents.

Let the learning begin!

Deb Palmieri editor

Parkland Press

Northwestern Press