BATON ROUGE- The back-to-school bell will ring soon, and with less than a week left of summer break, teachers have a lot of work to do.

"There's a lot of projects that have to be done for the beginning of the school, and if you go in thinking about all of the projects, it seems super overwhelming," 3rd grade math teacher Amy Moore said.

On Tuesday, Moore spent part of her day at Westdale Heights Academic Magnet School, setting up her classroom. Thursday evening, she will meet her students for the first time.

Preparing her classroom has taken weeks.

"We may not be here working, but we're probably doing things at home. We're thinking about what we're going to do, what our room is going to look like, how we are going to change things to make our teaching better. That doesn't really stop when school stops," Moore said.

For some, preparing for the school year goes beyond decorating a classroom. Pre-K teacher Lisa Brown says she has been studying all summer.

"Some kids come and they don't speak English. We have to prepare for English speaking as well as non-speaking children. I have also taken some college classes to further my education," Brown said.

She says in just a few short weeks, students' work will cover the walls of every classroom.

"We are the home away from home, so we have to have our atmosphere that says we are here to play, but we learn while we are playing," Brown said.

Teachers aren't the only ones getting ready for the first day. Students say they are also making sure they have all of their supplies ready to go.

"Scissors, three notebooks, and a unicorn backpack" kindergartner Alani Williams said.

Officials say masks are optional, and teachers say they look forward to a year without COVID restrictions.