You likely encountered school buses and smiling children on your commute on Tuesday as school districts welcomed back students for the first time since June.

Teachers and administrators celebrated the first day of school with their new students from Kewaunee to Washington Island and every district in between. You can count the first day of school among the favorite days for Kewaunee School District Superintendent Scott Fritz. District administrators like Fritz work through the summer in preparation for the new school year. In his case, Fritz has been working on projects related to their most recently passed referendum, which includes work on a new transportation hub later this fall. Until this point, Fritz says he has been going to work, but it has just felt like any old building until the teachers arrived over the last two weeks, and students made their school year debut on Tuesday.

For Sturgeon Bay High School Principal Keith Nerby, the dawn of a new school year it is a fresh start for students and staff.

The first day of school also reminds motorists to slow down in school zones and stop for school buses picking up or dropping off students. According to the Wisconsin Department of Transportation, vehicles approaching a stopped school bus displaying flashing red warning lights should give the bus at least 20 feet and remain stopped until the bus moves forward again or turns off its flashing red warning lights.