On September 6, the halls were abuzz as students arrived for the first day of classes at Linden Avenue Middle School. 

Summer has passed, and with it, so has the two-month break from school. In classrooms, teachers began handing out syllabi that detailed how their classes would function throughout the school year.  

“It’s weirdly calm on the first day,” said eighth grader Natalia Fernandez. “I’m excited for some of the spring sports though. I’m on the track team from April to June, and it’s a lot of fun.” 

Some faculty members, like Jennifer Melitski, work with multiple grades during a school year, and were excited to see students that they had mentored in previous years. 

“I see the students in sixth, seventh and eighth grade so I see them grow and mature," said Melitski. She remarked on how the first day of classes was her favorite, saying, "I've always loved the first day. It's a new beginning.” 

The children at LAMS were also happy to be back. The cafeteria was full of students sitting together and eating, catching up on what they had done over the summer break. Outside, they began to climb and swing on the playground completed last year. This didn’t mean that they weren’t aware why they were here though. 

“I wasn’t looking forward to school at first, but I’m enjoying it” said seventh grade student Max Lloyd. “I’m going to be taking Spanish, and my brother said he liked it, so that seems like it will be fun.”  

Scarlett Peacock is happy to be an eighth grader and is looking forward to algebra – but not because math is her favorite subject. “In algebra if I do good that will give me credits for high school,” she said, adding that English was her favorite subject.