The first day of school always brings up memories of years past, and thoughts about what could be new, different or better. At Washington Charter Elementary School on Wednesday, Raelyn Dukes, recent graduate of kindergarten and now official first-grade student, gave her last school year a no-words-needed, two thumbs-up review.

Before my own first day of kindergarten, my family drove past WCS, and I waved from the car window, calling to the building, “See you soon, Washington Charter!”

This flash of a memory, of grinning in the backseat in the August sun, is often recalled in my family — especially by my parents in moments like high school graduation and freshman year move-in day. Now returning as both a college student and a Desert Sun intern reporting on the first day of school, it was

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