More than 9,000 students, teachers, professional staff and administrators will return to school Thursday as the Vicksburg-Warren School District kicks off the 2017-2018 school year.

And, what a year it should be.

This year is one of a lot of firsts; a first for each of the system’s schools now being Leader in Me schools; the first for the career academies at Warren Central High School and Vicksburg High School under the Ford Next Generation Learning partnership; new principals; new teachers; new students and more.

But while there are plenty of firsts for this year, there is a basic belief each school year is built on. And, it was one Chad Shealy, the system’s superintendent of education shared during a prayer breakfast last week at First Baptist Church Vicksburg.

“We are changing lives,” Shealy told a room of pastors and volunteers, telling them it is the mission of the school system to make sure each child, each students is “college, career and life prepared.”

In fact, the system’s mission statement reads as follows: “It is our goal to equip every student with the literacy skills to succeed in challenging courses, meet academic standards, and graduate from high school prepared for college or ready for a challenging career.”

That is the foundation from which everything in the system is built, every decision made.

Thursday, these students will join their counterparts from Vicksburg Catholic Schools and Porter’s Chapel Academy, who each started their school years off earlier in the week.

Vicksburg and Warren County is tremendously blessed to have these three organizations, these three school systems putting our children first, putting our future first in the way they teach and mold our children.

This is always an emotional week for parents and children alike, but as a community, it is an exciting week when we can see our community’s future getting better, growing and learning.

Best wishes to all of our teachers, all our students and staff for a great year. We are proud of what you have accomplished and will accomplish.

At the end of the day — as an entire community — we are rooting for all of you.