For the first time in 27 years, some Jefferson County students will be going to a brand new school this fall.
Mt. Horeb Elementary School in Jefferson City will house more than 500 students from pre-Kindergarten through 5th grade.
"The children I've spoken to are so excited. This has been in the works before most of them were born," said Mt. Horeb's principal Sandra Austin.
For the last ten years, there's been a need for a new school in the county because of overcrowding. The school will combine students and teachers from Jefferson and Piedmont Elementary Schools.
"The classroom need has grown, even though the population hasn't been as fast. We're certainly happy we can get out of some 26 modular classrooms with the construction of this building," said Jefferson County director of schools Dr. Charles Edmonds.
With a cut of a ribbon from three students, the new building opened to the public Sunday. Students, parents, and teachers bustled through these clean hallways with a sense of excitement. After all, these kids will be in these seats on Thursday.
"They've been rezoned, teachers have been relocated, from both of those overcrowded schools, and now we're ready to start," Austin said.
Mt. Horeb's name came from a former school with the same name from the 1800's to the late 1950's. Some of the schools former teachers came out to the Sunday ribbon cutting.
"Well, the building has changed quite a bit," 97-year-old former teacher Margaret (Blackburn) Harrell laughed.
While the building is complete, officials said they still need to finish filling up the school library, and help with building a playground. For information on how you can help, visit the Mt. Horeb Elementary website.