Trenton ISD reopens campus after elementary school burns down

Students return to Trenton Elementary following fire

Today is the first day of school for students in the Trenton Independent School District in Fannin County. If you're asking, why so late? It's because a fire tore through the district's only elementary school back in April. But after a summer of hard work, the campus is open again.

TRENTON, Texas - Some students in Trenton, in Fannin County, are headed into their first day back on campus after their school burned down last year.

Trenton Elementary School, the district’s only elementary school, burned to the ground in April. Smoke also damaged the middle school nearby.

Students had to finish the school year at local churches and gymnasiums.

Now the Trenton Independent School District is utilizing about 20 portable classrooms.

The work took all summer long and stalled the first day of classes.

But the superintendent said getting to this point took a lot of hard work from the entire staff. And they’re happy to have gotten to this point.

"It was some tough times to get through it. But we had an amazing staff, amazing support around us that we were able to actually only miss one true day of school through that whole process before we came up with a plan and got our kids in the building. We wanted to get them back to normalcy as quick as we could," Superintendent Jeremy Strickland said.

The new classrooms are for both elementary and middle school students.

Middle and high school students are sharing a cafeteria for now while a new one is being built. Elementary students have a temporary one.

The superintendent hopes the new permanent school building will be open in two years.

And even though the first day was delayed, students will still end the school year on time.