Some Miami-Dade students return to changes at school

MIAMI (WSVN) -- The first day of school is officially in the books for Miami-Dade County.

Some kids were actually psyched to be in school. "I was in class," said one student of Lillie C. Evans K-8 Center. "I had a lot of fun with my teacher. We was doing math, and we was doing manners."

"We go outside and play for a little while," said another classmate. "We could go in the library and read a book."

Teachers and students at Miami Senior High School truly started with a clean slate after some major renovations. They also got a special visitor on their first day.

Miami-Dade Superintendent Alberto Carvalho was on site of a remodeling project at one of the most historic schools in the district. The school is in the middle of a two-year expansion, which will give students more space. "We're adding 150,000 square feet of space, 825 new student stations, and we're bringing Miami High back to it's old glory. It's a fantastic project," said Carvalho.

Earlier that morning, at about 6 a.m., Carvalho greeted district employees at a bus depot in Miami. He talked about his expectations for the 2012 - 2013 school year. "I'm very pleased that we balanced the budget without raising taxes and without firing a single teacher for economic reasons," he said. "So I expect this to be a tough year but a fair year. Last year we broke all records with highest ever graduation rates, and we're going to try to do it all over again."

Also, 255 new buses were revealed this morning. The buses are equipped with seat belts and air conditioning. Officials said the buses are a lot more fuel efficient then the older ones.

North Dade Middle School also re-opened after two years of renovations. It had been shut down when the crumbling school was deemed unsafe. "From what it was when I was here, it's a completely different school altogether," said Ulysses Harvard who once attended class at the school. "It's state of the art, which we need in today's society."

At Citrus Groove Elementary, students lined up to receive donated school supplies provided by the Kiwanis Club of Little Havana.

In Miami-Dade, day one of school saw 350,000 excited students returning to class and 23,000 excited teachers to receive them.

(Copyright 2012 by Sunbeam Television Corp. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)