TARBORO, N.C. — More than two years after Hurricane Floyd destroyed their school, some students in Edgecombe County finally have a new building to call their own.

Students and staff have spent the past 2 1/2 years in 30 mobile units set up on the campus of the National Guard Armory.

The new

Pattillo Elementary School

officially opened in Tarboro with a rededication ceremony Friday morning.

"The trailers were basically our home, so we've transitioned into the new school. We are all trying to get used to everything here. It's fantastic. We have hallways," said teacher Chris Kovalchick.

For the first time, many of the students are going to class in a building with everything under one roof.

Students no longer have to walk outside to get to the restrooms.

"It's a whole lot bigger than it was over there and it's a whole lot nicer," said Elizabeth Pchelka, a Pattillo fourth-grader. Because you don't have to walk through the rain to go to the bathroom. And it's warm. Over there it wasn't really warm."

The new $8 million building sits on the highest spot of the same campus.