The new Riverbank Elementary School year is here.

Teachers officially reported to school Monday.

Students begin classes next Monday.

It’s a landmark year in West Columbia with the opening of Riverbank on Cougar Drive across from Northside Middle School off Sunset Boulevard.

The two-story school will house grades K-through-2 on the ground floor and grades 3, 4 and 5 on the second floor.

The cost of the 155,000 square foot school with wide hallways and large classrooms is more than $30 million.

It features labs, collaborative class areas, expansive windows, and an efficient energy system. The new technology includes projection boards in every room.

Riverbank also is equipped with a top-of-the-line security system with electronic ID badges required for all staff.

Safety surveillance cameras are in all areas.

Riverbank will take students from BC Grammar No. 1 and Pineview Elementary. Those two schools are closing. BC Grammar operated for 65 years and Pineview was open for 50 years.

“Riverbank Elementary represents the future, though one firmly rooted in the history and tradition of Pineview and BC Grammar,” said Lexington Two Superintendent William B. James, Jr.

“BC Grammar No. 1 and Pineview Elementary have served our students and communities well — BC Grammar since the early 1950s, and Pineview since the late ’60s,” Dr. James said.

“The opening of the new Riverbank Elementary is a continuation of the culture that has been built through generations of students from these community schools.”

West Columbia Mayor Bobby Horton welcomed the new school.

“We want to help our schools and our families as much as we can.” said Horton. “The education of our children is a priority for city council.”

Stuart Jones, the City of West Columbia’s Building Official and Public Utilities Coordinator, is an alumnus of both BC Grammar No. 1 and Pineveiw Elementary.

“I have fond memories of my days at both schools,” he said.

He said most of the students walked to B.C. Grammar No. 1 when he was there.

Jones said he remembers students rode the city bus,

“A lot of students rode their bikes to school.”