School bus drivers in Northeast Philadelphia were gearing up to begin the process of picking up students for their first day of school for the School District of Philadelphia as the sun began to rise on Monday morning.
And, they were joined by the district's superintendent Tim Watlington.
"Every school year is a fresh start, a new beginning," Watlington told reporters at the district's bus depot on Monday morning. "And, I just want to encourage all of our young people in Philadelphia to take advantage of that. It doesn't matter what happened last year, if you didn't do your best, you've got another shot at it. Another bite at the apple."
Watlington also joined Cherelle Parker at Franklin S. Edmonds School in the city's East Mount Airy neighborhood on Monday morning to ring a ceremonial bell to kick off the new school year.
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"I'm excited. I hope my teachers are the best teachers," said one student at the morning celebration.
"I'm glad he's going back to school," Mariah McCall, mother of a student at Franklin S. Edmonds school told NBC's Brian Sheehan on Monday. "Because, I get to have my house to myself now."
Watlington will have a lot of new faces to welcome as the district has hired about 800 new teachers and councilors to help support students this year.
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Watlington will have other reasons to celebrate, as well.
For example, Philadelphia Eagles star Jalen Hurts has donated $200,000 to fund air conditioning at several schools in the School District of Philadelphia.
Officials said this donation will help add more than 300 air conditioning units in 10 schools across the district, aiming to provide comfort to classrooms and avoid disruptions to school days during the warmer months.
Watlington will also be out in South Philadelphia at Francis Scott Key School this afternoon in order to wave students goodbye at the end of the day of classes.
This is a breaking news story. It will be updated as new information becomes available.
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