It was far from a traditional first day of school, but some Minnesota students headed to their classrooms Monday.
Farmington and South Washington County schools were among the districts welcoming groups of students into school buildings for orientation activities before starting a hybrid model of in-person and distance learning.
Many districts across the state will start Sept. 8. Several others that were planning to start their academic years this week or next have pushed back that date to allow more time to plan for remote learning and COVID-19 precautions.
At Farmington High School, Monday's "connection day" offered a chance for high school students to walk through their class schedules and included specific time slots for families and students to talk with teachers.
"It was different, just as the whole school year will be," said Jason Berg, superintendent of Farmington Area Public Schools. "But we could still celebrate and get excited about the first day of school."
Even with their masks on, Berg said he could see kids' faces light up as they walked into their classrooms.
"There was finally that energy and buzz back in the buildings," he said.
School buildings had emptied out last spring as the pandemic forced districts to move to distance learning.
