SPANISH FORT — "I love this place!"

Those were the words of a kindergartener on Aug. 8 as she walked into the new Spanish Fort Elementary School building for the first time.

After about two years of construction, classes officially started last week in the new and improved building for the elementary school. Demolition on the older part of the school is still in progress, and the more recent additions for the school will remain in use.

"It never gets old to walk into one of our new facilities," Baldwin County Public Schools Superintendent Eddie Tyler said after he stepped into the main entrance on the first day of school.

Spanish Fort Elementary currently serves students in pre-k through the sixth grade, who will all attend classes in the new facility. The new building brought with it a new car line, which worked efficiently for its first day in operation.

"All reports coming to me throughout the county so far this morning have been very positive," Tyler said. "(With) car lines and busses, I'm sure that somebody will probably have an issue, but we'll deal with it and we'll make it better."

After dropping off their kids, parents were encouraged to attend a "Boohoo Breakfast" provided by Spanish Fort Elementary to make that first day a little better. Several parents got the opportunity to see more of the new building as they walked to the breakfast while the students settled into their classrooms.

Tyler, who has worked in education for 49 years as of July 1, said that over the past 10 years BCPS is "on the verge" of constructing 11 new schools, not including the new Baldwin Preparatory Academy that also opened its doors for the first time last week. Before work started on those projects, a new school facility had not been built in Baldwin County since 2009, he said.

The new facility will be paid for in four years, before a lot of these students will transition to middle school, Tyler said. He also said BCPS is "excited about this new school year" as schools across the county started their first day activities.