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By IRENE ROJAS  ¦   Andy Tribble hugs and wishes his goddaughter Silvia Aguila a good first day of classes at West Boulevard Elementary.

By IRENE ROJAS  ¦   Students in Lora Lee Hensel's fourth grade class at West Boulevard Elementary begin their first day of the new school year.

By IRENE ROJAS  ¦   Lisa Turner greets and guides students at West Boulevard Elementary on the first day of the new school year.

By MICHELLE PELTIER  ¦   First-time teacher Annie Arnone leads her new class in stretching exercises on Thursday. "Make yourself as big as you can," she told the Lee Elementary third graders.

By MITO HABE-EVANS  ¦   As children and their parents huddle under Parkade Elementary's entranceway to stay dry, Erica Pefferman preps her son, Colton Carney, 5, for his first day of school.

By CALIN ILEA  ¦   Andrew Trask, right, gives an egg rattle to his mother, Rhiannon Trask, during a "Kindermusik with Brenda" class. Several parents took their children at the Columbia Public Library to attend a 30-minute course on using sign language to communicate.

By CALIN ILEA  ¦   Brenda Haynes waves goodbye at the end of a "Kindermusik with Brenda" class. Several parents took their children to the Columbia Public Library to attend a 30-minute course on using the sign language to communicate.

By IRENE ROJAS  ¦   Andy Tribble hugs and wishes his goddaughter Silvia Aguila a good first day of classes at West Boulevard Elementary.

By MITO HABE-EVANS  ¦   As children and their parents huddle under Parkade Elementary's entranceway to stay dry, Erica Pefferman preps her son, Colton Carney, 5, for his first day of school.

By JARRAD HENDERSON  ¦   The first day of school is filled with new students, new teachers and, of course, new supplies.

By   ¦   An artist's rendering shows proposed improvements to William Street.

By JARRAD HENDERSON  ¦   Nate Hutchings handles introductions on his first day of teaching at Paxton Keeley Elementary School.

By   ¦   An artist's rendering shows some of the planned improvements for William Street.

By JOHN SCHREIBER/Missourian  ¦   Abby Froman, 5 uses her backpack as an umbrella on the way to her first day of school at Mill Creek Elementary Thursday. Abby started her first day of kindergarten on Thursday.

By Irene Rojas/Missourian  ¦   Fourth grade students in Lora Lee Hensel's class at West Boulevard Elementary begin their first day of school.

By Irene Rojas  ¦   Lisa Turner greets and guides students at West Boulevard Elementary on Thursday, the first day of the new school year for Columbia.

By Michelle Peltier/Missourian  ¦   Annie Arnone, a first-time teacher in the Columbia Public School District, leads her class in stretching exercises that she learned working in theater. "Make yourself as big as you can," she told the Lee Elementary third graders on Thursday as they prepared for their first day of school.

By Katy Steinmetz  ¦   David and Ching-Wen play Beethoven's "Spring" Sonata together for the first time.

By Joshua A. Bickel  ¦   Alicia Thater, left, an incoming MU sophomore, moves her belongings into an apartment at Campus View while fellow sophomore Arriell Calvin waits to go back to her car to finish moving. Because of an influx of incoming freshmen, Campus View and Campus Lodge opened their apartments for students who weren't able to get a room in the dorms on campus. "I don't think it'll be that much different," Thater said about safety at the apartments. "My car's a lot closer here than it was at Mizzou, so that's better for me."

By JOHN SCHREIBER  ¦   The kitten — named "Striker #4" by its new owners — sits frightened in the back of a cage after being rescued out of a creek Wednesday.