KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Mill Creek Elementary School in the Hardin Valley area of Knox County welcomed students and community members on Tuesday to tour the school.
In 2023, the school initially opened to only kindergarten through second-grade students. This year marks its first year with pre-k through 5th grade students, and a total student count of around 800.
The elementary school has 56 classrooms, two playgrounds, a media center and a special education site.
"Because we got that soft start last year with opening k through two, we were able to work through a bunch of those bugs and so this year I think there's just going to be the normal challenges with opening all the new students and traffic patterns," said Sunny Schaefnockerm, the principal at MCE.
This is the first new school in Knox County since Hardin Valley Middle School and Gibbs Middle School opened in 2018.