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Never begin a sentence with and, but, or or.

Conjunctions are supposed to link things, not stand apart, and there is some stylistic warrant for this “rule.” A series of sentences beginning with and could make you sound like a giddy teenager.

But it is perfectly all right to use the coordinating conjunction but at the beginning of a sentence to emphasize the contrast with the previous statement. And it is perfectly all right to use and at the beginning of a sentence to emphasize the continuity with or amplification of the previous sentence. Or you could continue to observe a schoolroom oversimplification to which experienced writers pay no attention. (See?)

In the Authorized Version of the Bible, the first chapter of Genesis, describing the creation of the universe and humanity, has thirty-two sentences beginning with and. The repetition has a rhetorical power suggesting the continuedness and interconnectedness of the action.

“And God saw that it was good.”

If it was good enough for Jehovah, it should be good enough for you.