Foam fights, popsicles and Comet pride mark start of school in Solon

Chagrin Solon Sun101/10Solon students and families celebrated the start of the 2026-27 school year with orientations, ice cream and popsicle socials, a foam-filled welcome-back party and the Community & Kindness Tailgate. SOLON, Ohio — Solon students headed back to class for the 2026-27 school year with foam fights, frozen treats and plenty of opportunities to reconnect with friends and teachers.Across the Solon City School District, students and families marked the return to school with orientations, ice cream socials, popsicle parties and other welcome-back events.The celebrations continued through the first week of classes, culminating with the Community & Kindness Tailgate ahead of the first Friday night football game of the season.The Solon Council of PTAs organized the Aug. 21 tailgate, which brought together families, parent organizations and community groups for an evening of activities before the game.In an Aug. 22 Facebook post, Solon Schools thanked the council, participating groups and families and called the event “the perfect way to wrap up a GREAT first week of school.”At Solon High School, freshmen and other new students got a head start during orientation, where they learned about school routines, expectations and opportunities and met members of the building leadership team, including new Principal Dakota Berg and new Assistant Principal Paige Zenovic.Class presidents Prisha Marwaha and Matthew Kim encouraged the incoming students to take advantage of the high school’s clubs and extracurricular activities.“As a freshman you all have the opportunity to meet new people, explore new interests and build relationships with our wonderful staff,” Marwaha told students. “Be open to trying new things because you never know what you might end up liking.”Upperclassmen later showed students around the building, answered questions and shared advice with members of the Class of 2030.At Solon Middle School, seventh graders used orientation to find their classrooms, practice navigating the halls and talk with eighth-grade student ambassadors about what to expect at their new school.Eighth graders also had a chance to compare schedules with friends and explore their new wing. Both orientation days ended with students gathering in the courtyard for ice cream provided by the Solon Middle School PTA.Back-to-school events were also underway across Solon’s elementary schools. At Orchard, the welcome back got a little messy, with students diving into foam fights during the PTA’s annual celebration.The Orchard PTA Welcome Back Party also featured food trucks, games and an opportunity for students to reconnect with friends before settling into the new school year.Lewis Elementary School families gathered for the school’s annual ice cream social. Students dropped off school supplies, met their teachers and reconnected with friends. They could also climb aboard a school bus and meet their bus drivers.At Parkside Elementary School, students met their teachers, caught up with friends and greeted the Parkside Panther mascot during the school’s back-to-school ice cream social.Roxbury Elementary School students also reunited with friends and teachers at an ice cream social, where members of the district’s transportation team shared bus safety tips.The district’s youngest students began their year at the Regano Early Learning Center, where preschoolers explored new toys, made friends on the playground and played in the gym with vehicles, slides and other activities.The events were part of a busy start to the school year across the district, giving students from preschool through high school a chance to settle in, reconnect and celebrate being Comets again.