Photography

Photos: Back to School

Students, parents, and teachers greet the new school year, in images from recent years and from the archives.

By Alan Taylor
A boy carrying a backpack sprints gleefully from his mother's arms.
Jack Vincent Picone / Fairfax Media / Getty
Delphine Anderson bids farewell to her 6-year-old son Alexis on the first day of school in Australia on February 1, 1989.
Two lines of people stand on either side of a path, clapping and welcoming young students into a school.
Andrew Craft / USA Today Network / Reuters
Members of the Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity cheer on students as they arrive for the first day of school at Margaret Willis Elementary School in Fayetteville, North Carolina, on Monday, August 25, 2025.
Two boys sitting at cafeteria tables play with each other, blowing on napkins.
Ronald W. Erdrich / USA Today Network / Reuters
Kindergarteners Hollis Jones (left) and Arthur Rogers (right) have a moment of fun during lunch at Dyess Elementary School on August 12, 2025. This was the first day of school in Abilene, Texas.
A teacher smiles while posing, showing off her ruler-shaped earrings.
Samantha Laurey / Argus Leader / USA Today Network / Reuters
Second-grade teacher Krista Baartman poses with her ruler earrings during the first day of school at Marcella LeBeau Elementary School in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, on August 21, 2025.
A child plays hopscotch in a schoolyard.
Mario Tama / Getty
A kindergartner plays hopscotch on his first day of school at Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Charter School for Science and Technology in the Lower Ninth Ward in New Orleans, Louisiana, on August 20, 2007. The school, closed since Hurricane Katrina swept through, in 2005, leaving it under 14 feet of water, had finally reopened.
A father holds and kisses his young daughter on the first day of school.
Ron Holman / Visalia Times-Delta / USA Today Network / Reuters
Five-year-old kindergartener Alayah Richardson gives her father Cleo Richardson a big hug on August 14, 2025, before her first day of school at Washington Elementary in Visalia, California.
A long line of school buses, parked outside of a school
Nathan J. Fish / The Oklahoman / USA Today Network / Reuters
Buses arrive at Heartland Middle School on the first day of school in Edmond, Oklahoma, on August 14, 2025.
A father and son pose outside of a school, holding a small chalkboard that reads
Samantha Laurey / Argus Leader / USA Today Network / Reuters
Third grader Oliver Clarke poses with his dad Joseph for a photo during the first day of school at Marcella LeBeau Elementary School in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, on August 21, 2025.
A black-and-white photograph of a young girl painting at an easel
Rae Russel / Getty
On her first day of nursery school, in 1948, a young girl paints at an easel during an art class in Madison, New Jersey.
Two young students pose for a photograph on the first day of school.
Julian Leshay Guadalupe / NorthJer / USA Today Network / Reuters
Yamise McBride (left), entering kindergarten, and her brother, Yamir McBride (right), entering pre-K, pose for a photo during the start of the first day of school at Donald A. Quarles Early Childhood Center in Englewood, New Jersey, on September 2, 2025.
Students in a classroom pet a cat that is sitting on one of their desks.
Evren Atalay / Anadolu / Getty
Tombi, who became known in Turkey as the “classroom cat” in a primary school in Izmir province, sits with students during a lesson after they returned to school following their summer vacation on September 24, 2018.
Young students wearing school uniforms smile and run along a hallway.
Li Haotu / VCG / Getty
Upon the start of a new semester, students run with new books in hand on the campus of a primary school on September 1, 2025, in Hezhou, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, China.
Young students in Afghanistan, wearing backpacks, run along a path.
Jeff Pachoud / AFP / Getty
Afghan children run to school on September 24, 2012, in a village on the road to Naghlu.
A smiling young girl holds a large decorated cone that is filled with treats and school supplies.
Robert Michael / DPA / Getty
Lina stands in a meadow near her elementary school with her Schultüte, or “school cone” in her arms after a back-to-school ceremony on September 4, 2021, in Dresden, Germany. A Schultüte is a traditional gift given to students by their family on their first day of first grade, usually packed with sweets, toys, and school supplies.
A person kneels down to place a pin on the shirt of a young student.
Denver Post / Getty
First-grade teacher Linda Tardie leans down to help Jennifer Burhans with a pin in Westminster, Colorado. Teachers and staff members at Cotton Creek Elementary School pinned buttons on students that read I Am Loved, welcoming them back on their first day of school on August 1, 1987.
A boy stands and makes a silly pose for his mother who takes a picture.
Adam Vander Kooy / Holland Sentinel / USA Today Network / Reuters
Students pose and smile for photos on the first day of school at Rose Park Elementary in Holland, Michigan.
A black-and-white photograph of young children in a classroom, focusing on two boys who are sharing sweet treats.
Kurt Schraudenbach / Ullstein Bild / Getty
In 1954, two boys share treats from a Schultüte in a classroom in Munich, Germany, on the first day of school.
A bustling hallway inside a middle school
Ryan Garza / USA Today Network / Reuters
Richards Middle School students walk through a hallway after opening their assigned lockers during their first day of school in Fraser, Michigan, on August 25, 2025.
A mother walks her daughter to school.
Loic Venance / AFP / Getty
A girl walks to her primary school with her mother on the first day of the new school year in Vertou, France, on September 4, 2017.

About the Author

Alan Taylor is a senior editor at The Atlantic.