WILSON CREEK - Technically, summer doesn't end until Sept. 22, but every child knows summer ends when school opens. By that definition, summer ends for most Columbia Basin kids Wednesday or Thursday.

But Wilson Creek schools actually open on Tuesday. The first day will end with early release at 12:30 p.m.

School starts Wednesday in Quincy, Soap Lake and Warden, and at Moses Lake Christian Academy. Classes begin Wednesday at St. Rose of Lima Catholic School in Ephrata, with the exception of preschool and kindergarten students. Preschoolers and kindergartners start school at St. Rose of Lima Sept. 3.

All Moses Lake elementary students start school Wednesday. Class lists at all elementary schools were posted late Thursday afternoon and were made available to parents Friday.

After that it gets a little complicated. Frontier Middle School opens for the year Wednesday; Chief Moses Middle School sixth graders and Moses Lake High School freshmen also start school Wednesday. Seventh and eighth graders at Chief Moses Middle School and MLHS sophomores, juniors and seniors start school Thursday.

Ephrata students go back to school Thursday, except for preschool and kindergarten students. Their parents will attend conferences Thursday, Friday and Sept. 3, and their classes start Sept. 4.