The Knoxville Community School district will welcome students back to the classroom today.

School starts at 7:55 this morning for the high school and Northstar Elementary and school will start at 8:05 for the middle school and West Elementary. The first two days of school students will dismiss two hours early. This year, the district is welcoming in five new staff members for 2025-2026 and the high school is retaining their entire staff from last year. Superintendent Cassi Pearson says there is a lot of excitement that goes into the first day of school for staff and students.

“We live and breathe and work to help provide the best education possible for them and just getting to interact with them and see how much they grow and learn, their social skills, all the things about it. Probably the best part of the first couple of days is getting to see them reunite with their friends too because they don’t always live next door to each other, so being able to get back into their social circles, the energy level in the buildings, and the excitement around learning.”

Hear a full preview of the upcoming school year from Pearson on today’s Let’s Talk Knoxville.