It seems like only a few short months ago we were congratulating students from throughout our area on their high school graduations.

Now, here we are, ready to begin another school year.

Today brings 20 mph speed limits near schools, students walking to school in Jamestown and stopped school buses throughout the region. Here’s a refresher on school bus safety – drivers must stop, and stay stopped, until the stop sign on the school bus is retracted. That is true also on roads with multiple lanes of traffic like Fairmount Avenue. Drivers near schools and in Jamestown need to be careful. Many children are excited for the opening of school and may not look both ways before crossing the road. It might be smart to start the daily commute five or 10 minutes earlier to account for school bus traffic or delays near city schools.

We wish students – both those who are excited for the start of the 2014-15 school year and those who wish summer vacation was a few weeks longer – a productive school year. We noted last week the efforts of seven Jamestown High School students and their families in earning their diploma. Every family in our readership area has the opportunity for the same success stories in their home. A good education gives the skills our children need to get into college or to get a job and make a good living. Education should also instill in children a desire to continue learning new things and to better understand the world around them.

Teachers can whet a child’s appetite for such learning, but parents are the ones who can build on the foundation provided by teachers by reading to their children, asking them questions and simply being involved in their child’s education.

It’s back-to-school time – for parents as well as children.