‘This school year will be a very great school year’: Students, teachers happy to return to classes in Baltimore after challenging 2 years

Car drop-off lines stretched out and around school parking lots, droves of students stepped off yellow buses and classmates greeted themselves with hugs on the first day of classes in Baltimore City and Baltimore County on Monday. The smiling faces of students, teachers and staff reflected the joy of being back at school, with fewer of the masks, protocols and fears that marked the first two years of the pandemic. Less visible were some of the concerns that many share about teacher vacancies and bus driver shortages.