The pandemic has forced us to change a lot of things in our lives. Now, as more and more people get vaccinated, it doesn’t feel crazy to think about when life can return to normal.

As the Seattle school district delays the date for bringing preschoolers and some students with disabilities back to classrooms to the end of this month, 40 miles to the south in Pierce County, seventh- and eighth-graders at Keithley Middle School in Parkland headed back to campus this week. They...