08/24/2026
Back to school has always made me emotional.
There’s something about this week that makes time feel especially rude.
The backpacks get bigger.
The first-day outfits require significantly more opinions.
The pictures get harder to take.
And somehow the little people you swear were just learning how to write their names are walking into another school year becoming more and more themselves.
This year feels especially big for us.
It’s a transition year.
The kind where routines are changing, chapters are closing, new ones are beginning, and I’m feeling approximately 47 emotions about all of it at the exact same time.
Excited for them.
Nervous for them.
Proud of them.
A little heartbroken by how quickly it all moves.
And very aware that parenting is basically spending years teaching humans how to need you less and then having the audacity to be surprised when it works.
So this week, I want to make a little more room around here for back to school.
For the teachers walking back into classrooms carrying plans for kids they haven’t even met yet.
For the staff doing a thousand invisible things before the doors ever open.
For the parents doing mental gymnastics with schedules, lunches, forms, supplies and feelings.
And especially for the kids.
The kindergartners having their very first first day.
The middle schoolers trying to figure out where the hell their fourth-hour class is.
The kids starting somewhere new.
The ones hoping this is the year they find their people.
The seniors walking into their last first day without fully understanding yet how fast this year is going to disappear.
There are so many stories beginning this week.
And I think that deserves celebrating.
All week, we’re going to celebrate the students, teachers, staff and schools that make up our community.
Tag your school below and tell us something you love about it.
Let’s fill these comments with a little back-to-school love.
