Jasmine Ng had mixed feelings about starting her junior year Monday morning at Stoney Creek High School in Rochester Hills. She was excited to arrive with all her siblings — her little sister, who’s at Stoney Creek, too, and her little brother, who’s starting at Hart Middle School, right across the street.
“Usually it’s just me and my sister. Today, it was, ‘Yay let’s go to school together for the first time since COVID,’” Ng said.
But amid the first day excitement, Ng was also thinking about SAT season looming in the distance. She said she’s not looking forward to taking those tests her junior year, when many kids start the college application process.
Miles away in Detroit, as students at East English Village Preparatory Academy at Finney returned to school Monday morning, staff made sure the teens were amped up and ready to take on the day. A DJ played Montell Jordan’s “This Is How We Do It,” as school leaders and community members clapped and cheered on students as they entered the building – the annual “clap-in.”
“Good morning!” the crowd exclaimed as a girl with long braids waved shyly as she passed by. “Happy first day!”
Monday marked the first day of school in some suburban school districts and the Detroit Public Schools Community District. Students returned with excitement and jitters as they entered freshly cleaned schools, greeted their new teachers, and reconnected with their friends. For some students, it was a bittersweet return as this school year will be the last at their current school.
That was the case at Thurgood Marshall Elementary-Middle School in DPSCD, which will close at the end of the 2026-27 school year.
A slow trickle of a couple dozen students with shiny see-through plastic backpacks gathered in front of the door at Marshall, on the north end of Detroit. They waited patiently as teachers decked out in blue greeted them.
Although the group assembled for the clap-in was small, spirits were high as upbeat music and staff cheers welcomed the children inside.
“Welcome back, welcome back” staff cheered as they danced with excitement.
The school, which had around 170 students during the 2025-26 school year, is closing because of low-enrollment and high costs. Its closure follows that of four other DPSCD schools last year.
Evan Pringle, who will start ninth grade at Oak Park High School on Tuesday, met up with his brothers outside of Marshall around 8:30 a.m. He attended Marshall from preschool through eighth grade.
“I’m sad,” he said of the school’s impending closure. “But, I already knew it was gonna happen because they’ve been saying that since I was in like fifth grade.”
Across metro Detroit, the 2026-27 school year will have a lot in store for students, teachers, and school leaders. Three months from now, voters will elect a new governor who will have the power to push for dramatic changes to address poor test scores.
Students will have to become accustomed to new state rules that restrict the use of wireless devices such as cell phones during instruction, and gym classes that will now have to include a fitness test. On the plus side, the state once again will provide free school meals to public school students, regardless of income. And high school juniors, some of whom are preparing for college admissions essays, will have one fewer one to write with the elimination of the SAT essay exam they usually would take in the spring as part of the Michigan Merit Exam.
It’s also a year where it’s likely there will be much more experimentation with artificial intelligence in schools, as well as discussions about safeguards. More teachers will get trained to better teach literacy. And more teachers will use research to determine how to best team up with their fellow teachers.
In Detroit, city and school leaders are expanding efforts to curb chronic absenteeism. The city will continue to provide free bus service to all Detroit students through the Detroit Department of Transportation and is launching a new program offering rideshare service to students at four high schools. DPSCD is expanding its program that pays high school students for perfect attendance, adding middle school students this school year. In addition, the district is expanding a program that provides yellow school bus service at high schools with particularly high rates of chronic absenteeism.
Some students don’t wait until the spring Michigan Merit Exam to take the SAT.
Mobolaji Akimbiyi, a Stoney Creek junior, is planning to take the SAT in two weeks. He used the summer to study, in addition to resting, doing AP language homework and watching the World Cup with his dad. He’s most excited for AP Physics.
Like Ng, Akimbiyi has mixed feelings about the first day — a combination of excitement, apprehension, and a bit of relief to be back in routine after a languid few months.
“Summer kind of dragged on,” he said.
Chalkbeat Detroit Bureau Chief Lori Higgins contributed to this report.
Beki San Martin is a reporter for the Detroit Free Press. You can reach her at RSanMartin@freepress.com.
Hannah Dellinger covers Detroit schools for Chalkbeat Detroit. You can reach her at hdellinger@chalkbeat.org.
Micah Walker is a reporter for BridgeDetroit. You can reach her at mwalker@bridgedetroit.com.