Thursday, October 1, 2026
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The beach towels aren't packed away quite yet, but freshly sharpened pencils, new backpacks and first-day outfits are already beginning to signal what's coming next.
Back-to-school season has arrived.
For families across Long Island and around the country, August is the annual scramble to check off supply lists and make sure growing kids have something to wear when the school doors reopen. Teachers, meanwhile, are preparing their classrooms — and themselves — for another year of early mornings, lesson plans and hundreds of opportunities to make a difference.
Life is Good is bringing its famously optimistic outlook along for both sides of the first-day experience with a back-to-school collection featuring playful apparel for educators, while its children's collection offers plenty of comfortable options for elementary-age students.
Here are a few ways teachers and kids can start the 2026-27 school year on the bright side.
Teachers have enough to think about before the first bell rings. Their first-day wardrobe doesn't need to be one of them.
Life is Good's back-to-school collection takes the familiar teacher T-shirt and gives it the brand's signature mix of humor, positivity and colorful graphics. The result is casual clothing that can work for setting up the classroom in August, welcoming students on the first day or making it through an especially long Friday in October.
Among the collection's designs are shirts celebrating teachers, reading, learning and the classroom, giving educators an opportunity to wear some of the same encouraging messages they're trying to instill in their students.
For elementary teachers especially, the designs strike a balance between school spirit and something educators might actually want to wear outside the building.
Some of the best options are those built around reading and books. They're an easy fit for elementary classrooms, school library visits or special events centered on literacy, while still carrying the relaxed aesthetic associated with Life is Good.
The first weeks of school can be exciting, but they're also filled with nervous students, unfamiliar routines and new expectations. A teacher wearing an upbeat message isn't going to eliminate first-day jitters, but it can help reinforce the welcoming environment educators spend so much time creating.
And unlike a classroom decoration, teachers can take that message with them.
Of course, there's another wardrobe to worry about.
For elementary-age children, back-to-school clothing has to satisfy two very different audiences. Parents want something durable and practical. Kids want something they'll actually agree to put on at 7 a.m.
Life is Good's kids collection offers an assortment of graphic tees and other casual clothing built around many of the same themes found in its adult lineup — animals, sports, outdoor adventures, humor and plenty of optimism.
That variety is useful when shopping for younger students because the best back-to-school clothes often say something about the child wearing them.
A kid obsessed with the ocean can gravitate toward shark and marine-life graphics. Young athletes can find designs celebrating their favorite sports. Animal lovers have plenty of choices, while outdoorsy kids can carry a little bit of summer's camping, fishing and adventure spirit into September.
And after a summer spent in swimsuits, shorts and sandals, comfort matters.
Soft graphic T-shirts are an easy transition into the school routine and can be paired with jeans, shorts or layers as Long Island's warm September afternoons eventually give way to cooler fall weather.
They're also versatile enough for what an elementary school day actually looks like. An outfit might need to survive math, lunch, recess, art class and the bus ride home before heading directly to soccer practice or the playground.
There is also no rule saying the first-day outfit has to look like summer is completely over.
Life is Good's beachy and outdoors-inspired designs can keep some of that vacation feeling alive even as families trade trips to Jones Beach and afternoons by the backyard pool for homework folders and school pickup lines.
Ultimately, that's what connects the teacher and children's collections.
The beginning of a school year is built around possibility. Students meet new teachers and classmates. Teachers welcome an entirely new group of children into their classrooms. Families settle into routines that will define much of the next 10 months.
Life is Good's relentlessly sunny philosophy feels particularly appropriate for that moment.
And families or educators tackling their back-to-school shopping before the end of August can pair the new-school-year optimism with some savings.
Life is Good's Sitewide Savings promotion continues through Aug. 26. Using code MOREISMORE, shoppers can receive $15 off a purchase of $75, $25 off $125 or $50 off purchases of $200 or more.
The pencils will eventually need sharpening. The notebooks will get crumpled. And that carefully selected first-day outfit probably won't remain spotless through recess.
But at least everyone can start the year looking on the bright side.
