N.Y.C. Schools Reopen With Joy and Anxiety on ‘Game Changer’ First Day

“We’ve got to give this a chance,” said one parent as the nation’s largest school system reopened in full for the first time in 18 months.

New York City’s schools reopened on Monday to scenes of joy, relief and anxiety, as roughly a million children returned to their classrooms, most of them for the first time since the country’s largest school system closed in March 2020 because of the pandemic. The day, always chaotic even in normal times, began with many families and educators nervous about the next few months, as the spread of the highly contagious Delta variant has complicated the city’s push to fully reopen schools. It represents a crucial moment in the city’s long recovery from the pandemic, and Mayor Bill de Blasio has much at stake in keeping schools open, even as other districts across the country have faced quarantines and other disruptions. In contrast to last year, and unlike some other major urban districts, the city did not offer a remote option to most students.