Excitement, nerves and new beginnings filled schoolyards across Brooklyn on Thursday morning as New York City public school students returned for the first day of classes. From Bushwick to Park Slope and all across Brooklyn, families reflected on milestones, fresh starts and the rollout of the state’s new “bell-to-bell” cell phone ban .

At M.S. 582, The Magnet School for Multimedia Technology and Urban Planning in Bushwick, Governor Kathy Hochul greeted students at 8:45 a.m., emphasizing her push for distraction-free classrooms.

“We want to make sure you can keep learning,” Hochul said. “Kids from all of the state will see this change but you are among the very first to have this. Your teachers will have a better experience teaching you and getting to know you better.”

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