PAWTUCKET, R.I. (WPRI) — Some elementary students in Pawtucket are starting the new academic year with a brand-new school.

Local leaders and school staff celebrated the opening of Elizabeth Baldwin Elementary School on Whitman Street with a ribbon-cutting ceremony Thursday morning.

Students returned Wednesday for the first day of school after previously learning in an annex building, while the previous, decades-old facility was torn down and rebuilt.

Officials described the 96,000 square-foot school as a $71.6 million dollar investment. It can hold about 840 students and has a state-of-the-art gymnasium, three art rooms, a media center, and an interactive learning commons.

Interim Superintendent Randy Buck said Baldwin Elementary represents access, opportunity and pride.

"It places st

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