Students wait to be picked up in front of West Park Elementary on Tuesday afternoon.

Exciting. OK. Great and no homework!

A sea of students shouted reactions to their first day back at school as they poured through the hallways Tuesday afternoon at the new West Park Elementary.

Despite some confusion Which way do I go? Wheres the flagpole? the students quickly found their way to yellow school buses or teacher-monitored parent pickup lines. By 2:35 p.m., 15 minutes after the final bell rang, West Park Principal Shane Pratt returned to his office and took a seat for the third time that day.

Ive been in and out of classrooms, making sure everything is going OK, talking with students, parents, teachers, he said, turning toward his computer monitor. Wow, thats a lot of e-mails.

Pratt spent most of Tuesday in and out of the classrooms, walking the hallways and answering questions. With a moment of free time, the principal declared the first day a success.

I think today went very well. Our students were able to interact with the building and get to know the building, and it was a good day, he said. We have high expectations for our kids. We expect them to achieve, and now we not only have the staff but the tools to make that so much more accessible.

In addition to technology and structural improvements, the new school brings increased technology to the classroom: A Promethium board, projector and voice lift system, which projects the teachers voice through overhead and surround speakers, is installed in each classroom.

Pratt also dedicated some time Tuesday morning to meet with parents, answer questions and address concerns. From parents, the most common questions involved security and instruction; from the students, the query was more basic: Wheres the bathroom?

The students used to have a bathroom in each classroom, so having a bathroom down the hall is new for them, the principal said. The most common statement Ive had is, This is nice. Its about time. Thats the most common statement from parents and community members alike.

The schools opening capped two years of planning and preparation to build a new facility to replace the almost 60-year-old West Park Elementary on Southwest Seventh Street. The construction was paid for with a $69.9 million bond voters approved in 2008; the money is also funding new facilities for Sunset Elementary, scheduled to open in April; and Armand Larive Middle School.

With all the planning and preparations , for all the support that went into this, today went as well as we expected. The positive attitudes and energy, that was more than was expected, Pratt said. Thank you to everyone who helped make today such a success.

Thursday afternoon, the school hosted tours of the new facility for parents and community members; the official ribbon cutting ceremony begins at 10 a.m. Saturday, Jan 15.