Cape students head back to school

Students walk off the bus and into Barbara Blanchard Elementary on the first day of school for the Cape Girardeau public school district on Wednesday, Aug. 24. (Megan Burke ~ mburke@semissourian.com)

SPED Teacher Assistant Kathy Harris hugs returning students Re'gime and Reign Faulkner, grades third and first, after they get off the school bus at Blanchard Elementary school on Wednesday. (Megan Burke ~ mburke@semissourian.com)

(from left) Kristian Troxel, Carsen Ellis and First Luitenant Brittany Troxel walk into Barbara Blanchard Elementary school on Wednesday, the first day of classes. (Megan Burke ~ mburke@semissourian.com)

SPED Teacher Assistant Kathy Harris oversees school bus arrival at Blanchard Elementary on the first day of school for Cape Girardeau school district on Wednesday, Aug. 24. (Megan Burke ~ mburke@semissourian.com)

Parents Nikki Walker, left, and Shawn Evans, right, take photos of their son, second grader Walker Evans, center, in front of a sign that reads "Welcome to Blanchard" on Wednesday, Aug. 24. (Megan Burke ~ mburke@semissourian.com)

SPED Teacher Assistant Kathy Harris embraces third grader Jyra Moton as she gets off the school bus at Blanchard Elementary on Wednesday, Aug. 24. (Megan Burke ~ mburke@semissourian.com)

Ms. Williams talks to her homeroom students on Wednesday, the first day of school at Cape Central middle school. (Megan Burke ~ mburke@semissourian.com)

A'zyia Wheatley, left, and Kierah McGill-Hogan color at their desks in Mrs. Zweigart's class on Wednesday, the first day of school at Cape Central middle school. (Megan Burke ~ mburke@semissourian.com)

Veronica Hull, business education teacher, passes out papers to freshman Darius Newbern, center, and David Torres at Cape Central high school on Wednesday, Aug. 24. (Megan Burke ~ mburke@semissourian.com)

Students walk to class on the first morning of school at Cape Central high school on Wednesday, Aug. 24. (Megan Burke ~ mburke@semissourian.com)

(Clockwise from left) Seniors Demi Drum, Tim Kirby, Grass Heartline, Clayton McClard and Tad Couch talk about their summer activities at Cape Central high school on the first day of school, Wednesday, Aug. 24. (Megan Burke ~ Southeast Missourian)

Kim Newman, family and consumer science teacher, helps seniors Abbey Steinberg, center, and Alexis Boyer as she starts her 25th year of teaching on Wednesday at Cape Central high school. (Megan Burke ~ mburke@semissourian.com)

High school Junior Camron Hughes looks for a spot to sit in the Cape Central high school cafeteria on the first day of school, Wednesday, Aug. 24. (Megan Burke ~ mburke@semissourian.com)

Students eat lunch in the cafeteria at Cape Central high school on the first day of school Wednesday, Aug. 24. (Megan Burke ~ mburke@semissourian.com)