After a long, eventful summer the children of Wareham are heading back to school.

Tuesday marked the first day of school for grades 1-12 at the Wareham Public Schools and for the first time in months, residents saw small packs of students standing at bus stops scattered across town.

First and second-graders made their way into Decas Elementary School at 8:30 a.m. Tuesday. At 8:15 a.m. parents and students were lined up outside the side doors to the building while buses entered school grounds.

Decas Assistant Principal Richard Paling directed students coming off the buses alongside a number of other staff members. The students who were waiting with their parents hugged, kissed and said their goodbyes as all the schoolchildren took their first steps into a new school year.