MILLBURY, Mass. - Doors at the brand new Shaw Elementary School in Millbury opened to students for the very first time Wednesday.

"This today, our kids are a part of history," principal Andrew Tuccio said. 

​The new school has been in the works for about seven years. School leaders said the old Shaw school wasn't the best environment for students to learn. 

"Big tall lockers, drab colors, straight hallways," said Jennifer Nietupski, chair of the Millbury School Committee. "It was 1970 construction all over again."

But this new building is the complete opposite. The new state of the art school if full of natural light and was designed specifically for elementary learners.

"When you go in the building, the space is flexible, kids can work in the class room, out of the classroom," Tuccio said. " They have little front porches to make it feel like a community."

The new school was an important project to superintendent Gregory Myers.​ He said not only does the building help promote learning, it's also very efficient. 

"The lighting in every classroom has a sensor and when it's bright outside the lights inside will dim automatically," Myers said. "Along with that, there's no A/C but it feels very cool because there is a schoolwide dehumidifier."

Crews are still putting some finishing touches on the building. Tuccio said the new school cost a little more than $60 million. It was completed on time and on budget.