The first day of school: Bells, bikes, buses and big feelings

It's Labor Day, the unofficial end of summer — and the beginning of another school year. From coast to coast, about 54 million students are returning to classrooms — some familiar, some entirely new.

Every school marks the first day in its own way. Reporters from NPR and its member stations visited four schools around the country to capture some of those first-day feelings: the nerves, the excitement, the traditions and the tears...