Outside Two Rivers Public Charter School — Young Elementary, a second grade teacher shook a tambourine as he cheerfully welcomed families to the first day of school. A drama teacher greeted youngsters with a puppet draped over one arm. A young boy posed for a photo on the front steps of the building, flashing a wide smile before disappearing into the school.

“I’m excited to make friends and excited to learn new things,” declared Fabiola Rushing, an 8-year-old who is starting third grade. Fabiola had laid out all of her outfits for the week, settling on a new pair of leggings with colorful shapes and a t-shirt with the school’s logo for the first day.

The festivities were not limited to Young elementary: Monday marked the largest return of students to school buildings in the District in more than a year and a half. The return included tens of thousands of students from nearly 50 charter campuses and all of D.C. Public Schools, the traditional school system.

In Maryland, about 160,000 students started classes in Montgomery County Public Schools, the state’s largest system. And, in Virginia, Arlington Public Schools brought back its nearly 27,000 students.

At Young, which is located in the Carver-Langston neighborhood in Northeast, the first day of school jitters were mixed with reminders of the pandemic. Young is part of a charter network operated by Two Rivers, which educates about 1,000 students at three campuses.

Parents sent their children off with paper towels and disinfectant wipes. Students stood in line with their class (or “crew,” as they are called at Young) on the front lawn until they were called into the building one group at a time — in years past, parents could walk their children to class.

The morning got off to a bumpy start for Mylon Rondelli, a third grader. He got separated from his class as they headed into the school building so the boy turned back in search of his mom, Kate Rondelli, who pulled him into a hug.

Rondelli said Mylon is immunocompromised, so she has taught him to be extra cautious with masking and handwashing. She is nervous for the start of school because Mylon is too young to receive a coronavirus vaccine.

“The school has put a lot of effort into really updating everything and putting a lot of great protocols into place,” she said. “Time will tell if that’s enough.”

At Two Rivers Middle School, which is located behind Young, Manon Matchett dropped off her 12-year-old daughter, Cecelia Hill.

Cecelia said she worried it would be harder to meet new people after spending all of last school year learning from home. Her school invited students to campus one day earlier this month, where they toured the building and practiced using their lockers. That helped put Cecelia at ease.

“I was really nervous and anxious at first,” she said. “But now I’m finally feeling better, since it’s finally the day.”

Matchett said she is worried about the possibility of outbreaks but trusts her daughter’s school. She has drilled Cecelia with reminders to stay physically distant from others and to keep her mask on.

“We’re still in a global pandemic and so you don’t know what’s going to happen,” the mother said. “We’re truly operating with a spirit of faith that the necessary precautions have been taken.”

Muronji Inman-McGraw, the principal at Two Rivers middle, greeted students outside the building. Most of her students were still in elementary school when learning moved mostly online during the 2019-2020 academic year.

She said the school is going to spend the next several weeks focusing on getting everyone acclimated, making sure “students feel like they have a community, a sense of belonging and ownership over this building.”

About a mile away, Mayor Muriel Bowser celebrated back to school outside the newly renovated Eliot-Hine Middle School with D.C. Public Schools Chancellor Lewis Ferebee.

Bowser has pushed to reopen the schools since last fall but faced resistance from educators and many families throughout most of last school year. By the end of the year, just 30 percent of DCPS students received at least one day of in-person instruction each week.

Some families are still calling for the city to provide virtual learning options for the 2021-2022 academic year, especially as the delta variant drives up coronavirus cases in the region. But the Washington Teachers’ Union also began calling for in-person learning in the late spring as vaccines became more available, easing the path to reopening.

“We know that this is an exciting time, an exhilarating time and also an anxious time,” Bowser said. “We have done all of the things we know how to do to make sure that we’re reopening strong.”

Schools are reopening with several safety measures, including requiring face masks indoors. Cafeterias will also be set up for social distancing and schools plan to test at least 10 percent of its student body each week.

At Beall Elementary School in Montgomery County, kindergarten teacher Rachael Wong commemorated the first day back by taking a photo with her son Thomas, who is in fourth grade at the school.

Thomas said he enjoyed staying home last academic year but “I just don’t like Zoom.”

Wong said her school has adopted several safety protocols, including a mask requirement and having teachers wipe down desks. At lunch, half of the school’s students will eat outside so children can be physically distant. All teachers and staff must get vaccinated against the coronavirus or submit to weekly COVID-19 testing.

Monifa McKnight, the school system’s acting superintendent, said they are working with the county health department to conduct contact tracing if an outbreak occurs.

Teacher Kristin King said she is looking forward to having her students for face-to-face instruction.

“They really need the interactions with other students and that was really difficult, virtually,” King said as she walked into school, her arms full with a work bag, lunch and a lamp for her office. “We’re all excited to get back in and have a regular school year.”

Parents Lilia and Hosni Ben Khalifa escorted their two sons to Beall. Zakaria started his first day of kindergarten and Foued started third grade. Hosni Ben Khalifa worries schools might have to close again if students become sick. He hopes children will become eligible for a vaccine soon.

“They’ve been homeschooled for the last two years and it’s not really working,” he said. “Hopefully this year they go back to school for good.”